


The Man of the Sea

by kishidanchougoroshi



Category: Arashi (Band)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-13
Updated: 2018-11-22
Packaged: 2019-08-01 11:17:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 7
Words: 26,867
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16283588
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kishidanchougoroshi/pseuds/kishidanchougoroshi
Summary: Sho, an Admiral of the Navy was assigned to find a hidden island. The only one who could help him to accomplish the mission was a freelance navigator who happened to hate the Navy. However, when Sho had just made an agreement with the navigator, someone snatched him away – a high-ranked pirate that Sho had anticipated.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Betaed by latearashifan, the awesome lady who always helps me to fix the error grammars. Thanks so much for your help.

“Why do I have to go on a mission to persuade a single navigator?” Sho threw the letter down angrily as he finished reading it.

“He’s not just a navigator, Sir,” one of his most trusted captains, Ueda answered while taking the command letter from the floor.

Sho couldn’t get why the Fleet Admiral wanted him to sail towards an island which was out of their jurisdiction to persuade a single navigator. A small mission – at least for Sho’s standard – and he had too many things to handle recently which were more urgent than convincing a freelance navigator to work with them.

Ueda folded the letter and put it down on Sho’s desk with the utmost care, afraid that his movement would add more fuel to Sho’s anger.

Sho glanced at the calendar on the wall; it was the middle of September, the time of so many storms. As far as he knew, even the Navy avoided this month to sail. They didn’t want to risk their lives and chose to wait for the storm season to end. The absence of the Navy was utilized by the pirates to conduct more crimes at sea and on the remote islands. The two biggest oceans – Kanata and Tsunagu – were still under the Navy’s control. However, the pirates had taken the smaller seas and for the past six months, the situation had gotten worse.

Navy’s Fleet Admiral, Higashiyama had ordered the Admirals, including Sho, to conduct patrols on a regular basis to handle the pirates. The problem was, the number of pirates had grown rapidly and arresting or executing them wasn’t the best solution since new pirates would soon replace them.

“Ueda, you come with me,” Sho said.

“Yes, Sir,” Ueda answered.

“We’ll sail tomorrow, at dawn. Prepare everything, we will expect bad weather on our way,” Sho continued. His eyes locked on the map, to the island where they would go, a place where all the bad guys gathered, a place where Navy men like him were not welcomed.

As Ueda left, Sho started reading the information about the navigator he would persuade. The man could be considered a criminal since he worked with pirates, mafia, and treasure hunters. However, he was the best navigator in the whole ocean and now, the Navy needed him to lead them towards the hidden island which hid a secret weapon. According to Higashiyama, no pirates knew about that island, and although the Navy did, they couldn’t locate the place, not even their most trained navigators. Their only hope was to find the freelance navigator who was known for his extraordinary intelligence in finding the most hidden treasures in the entire ocean.

The navigator was only a few years younger than Sho; he had a smart face and from the way he smiled in the picture, Sho could tell that this man was someone hard to persuade. Sho was good in negotiation, but he had never negotiated with a criminal before. He had made a plan, though, to use the force in case this man refused to work with them.

***

Sho led the cruise, he delivered a short encouraging speech to his underlings, particularly to the newly recruited navy men. He told them not to be afraid of the turmoil of the sea and to get ready for the worst possible storm.

“Don’t worry too much, Sakurai-Admiral is here with us,” Sho heard one of them speak to his friend. “He can control the wind, we’ll be alright.”

The dark clouds welcomed their ship as they left the harbor. Sho tightened his fist, indeed he could control the wind with his orion power, but it was forbidden to be used against nature. The power was given to him to protect the Navy from its enemies. That power was the award for him when he succeeded in accomplishing a dangerous mission a few years ago. It was the same year he was promoted to Admiral.

“Sir, we’re heading Northwest,” Ueda reported.

“Keep the pace and don’t panic, you know what to do,” Sho said, glancing at the compass in his left hand. The sky above them had turned darker; an unpleasant wind started blowing and droplets of rain began to pour.

“Understood, Sir!” he replied and returned to his station.

They were lucky that the storm wasn’t as bad as what they anticipated. When the storm was over, it was already dark. Sho checked the compass and the map; they would need one more day to reach the island. Nobody could guarantee that the navigator was still there; but since there was no latest report from the intelligence agent, Sho was sure that the man they were looking for hadn’t made any move to the new place.

Sho looked at the night sky; it had been fifteen years since he joined the Navy. His career was the fastest compared to the other sailors in the same batch. He was also the youngest Admiral. He turned 36 this year; not a young boy anymore, but an age where he could make wise decisions. He was loyal to the Navy and dedicated his life to protect the seas from the pirates. He had imprisoned many pirates including the high ranked ones, his presence was feared by the pirates and respected by the islanders.

He was also popular among the girls. Who could resist him in the first place? He was handsome, his career was on the fast track and he was the hero who freed them from pirate’s terror. If Sho wanted, he could pick the girls he liked to sleep with; but he didn’t. He wasn’t a person who utilized his power for harassment, besides, he was too busy to think about girls.

Sho kept on looking at the blinking stars, it reminded him of a person, someone he was close to. It had been 20 years since they met for the last time. The day Sho joined the Navy marked the end of their friendship. Sho never hated the man, even though they ended up as opposites. Deep down inside his heart, he wanted to meet his old friend again, perhaps in special circumstances where he could act as a civilian instead of a navy Admiral.

He had heard about that particular man’s whereabouts. Ironically, he had become a top-ranked pirate that the Navy couldn’t handle. Sho hadn’t had any chance to encounter him, but he hoped it would happen soon. That man had caused troubles for the government, it would be such a shame for the Navy if they couldn’t arrest him.

“Sir, we’re already close to the shore,” Ueda’s voice woke him up from his daydreaming.

“Thanks, Captain.” Sho answered. He walked towards the cabin wearing his Navy cloak, holding a long blade in his right hand and inserted a gun into the belt around his waist.

Niji Island was a place where neither the Navy nor the pirates took control of. It was some kind of a hub for the sailors, but somehow, the bad guys seemed to dominate the place. Sho hoped his team wouldn’t need to get involved in a stupid fight with the drunken sailors or mafia. If they did that, there would be a possibility that the navigator would decline their offer. Besides, Sho didn’t want any casualties in this mission; he had brought too many inexperienced soldiers with him and risking their lives on their first assignment wasn’t a great idea.

Sho only dragged Ueda with him towards the center of the city in order to avoid unwanted attention. He had already attracted attention with his bright white Navy cloak, though. Sho had received the newest report from their intelligence which mentioned that the navigator was inside the casino and now was playing trump card with three other men.

They entered the tallest casino building and walked straight towards the table in the far corner. The man they were looking for was among the players; he glanced momentarily towards Sho and returned his attention to the cards in his hands.

The man’s appearance was younger than the photos which Sho had seen. He had thick black hair and pale skin which reminded Sho of a plant that lacked sunshine.

“What do you want, soldier?” one of the players hissed without lifting his head.

“I have no business with you, Sir. I’m here for that guy,” Sho answered, gesturing towards the young man at the left corner who still declined to look at him. “We’ll be waiting here, until you finish,” Sho continued.

“What a burden,” the young man whispered.

Sho ignored him and stood still at the edge of the table, watching them play. A man with a hood stared at him but when Sho stared back, the man averted his gaze to the cards in his hand.

They waited for an hour until they finished the game. The young man lazily stood and was about to walk off to the far direction before Sho grabbed his wrist.

“Ninomiya Kazunari-san, we would like to negotiate something with you,” Sho said.

The man turned to him with a frown on his face; he freed his hand from Sho and gave him a critical gaze from head to toe.

“I have nothing to do with Navy commanders,” Ninomiya hissed.

“He’s an Admiral, watch your mouth, kid!” Ueda shouted from Sho’s right side.

“I don’t see any difference,” Ninomiya smirked. “And I’m not a kid,” he added to Ueda before turning around to leave, but Sho was faster. He walked ahead of the man and blocked his way.

“We’re offering you the highest bid,” Sho said.

Ninomiya’s expression didn’t change, but Sho could tell that he was thinking fast and considering what Sho meant by the highest bid. “I’m not cheap, you know.”

“Mention your price,” Sho replied.

Ninomiya glanced around the room and returned his gaze to Sho before continuing. “This place isn’t the best spot to talk about money. Let’s go somewhere quieter,” he said, leading the way even before Sho could answer him. 

The man guided them towards the third floor of casino which mainly consisted of a bar. Ninomiya chose a table in the corner where they could speak freely. The jazz music that Sho liked was playing in the background. Somehow, it made him relax.

“First, I don’t work for one side for too long,” Ninomiya said, straight to the point, as they sat down. “Second, I need a guarantee for my safety since many people want to kidnap me, and third, you have to pay me in advance.”

Sho had been told about the terms and condition of this guy, so he wasn’t really surprised now. He knew that every sailor wanted Ninomiya to be on their side, which was why this guy hid on this island once he had finished a job.

“We can provide all of that,” Sho replied with confidence.

Ninomiya pouted, his gaze still indicated that he didn’t trust what Sho said. “Are you going to arrest me once I finished working for you?”

“Of course, not,” Sho said. “We don’t imprison someone who works for us.”

“That’s not what I’ve heard about the Navy,” Ninomiya murmured. “You’re not so different from pirates.”

“Watch your mouth!” Ueda said impatiently.

Sho lifted his hand to stop the captain from interrupting. This Ninomiya was their key to finding the hidden island, they couldn’t risk this chance.

“I hold the second highest position in the Navy,” Sho said. “I don’t break my promises.”

Ninomiya gave Sho a stern look, his lips curved into a slight smile. “I bet the Navy is looking for something more than just treasure.”

“I can’t talk about it here. It’s classified,” Sho said.

“Typical,” Ninomiya shook his head.

“If you agree, we can leave for the Navy Headquarters tonight. My best troops will give you the highest protection until the time of our departure. You’ll get an advance payment, does that sound perfect?” Sho tried to flash a smile to the navigator, but all he could do was a stiff grin.

“Why not?” Ninomiya said.

Sho was surprised; he thought that Ninomiya would ask for payment first before agreeing. It was easier than what Sho anticipated, not a bad thing though.

“If you break your promise, I’m going to navigate your ship to hell,” Ninomiya said. “Now, let’s talk about what I need during my stay with the Navy,” the man continued.

“Ueda, note everything he says,” Sho commanded.

Ninomiya spoke for about five minutes, mentioning everything he needed, including the toilet paper pattern he liked the most. Sho was sure that he made up all of this to annoy them, but it was none of Sho’s concern. His underlings would take care of the toilet paper later on, all he needed to worry about was the hidden island and the secret mission they would conduct.

“Finished?” Sho asked Ninomiya who took a deep breath with such a satisfied smile on his lips.

“For now,” he shrugged.

When they were walking outside of the bar, Sho spotted the same man with the hood covering his head. The man was enjoying a glass of liquor, but his face was perfectly hidden under his black hood. It raised Sho’s suspicions, but he couldn’t do anything now, this island is law-free.

The three of them returned to the ship as it was getting dark. Ueda grumbled all the way as Ninomiya made him bring half of the stuff he bought on their way.

“Sakurai-san,” Ninomiya called. The navigator refused to address him by his Admiral title, which indicated that he declined to obey Sho. “You’d better take the opposite route to return to the headquarters. There will be a hurricane in the middle of the sea tonight.”

Ueda shook his head and rolled his eyes as he heard what Ninomiya said, but Sho agreed immediately. The man’s reputation was already proved; it was better to do what he said.

Ninomiya locked himself up inside his room, he even requested dinner to be delivered. Sho didn’t mind it at all, he didn’t particularly need to talk with the navigator right now. Their classified mission could wait until they were in Navy headquarters. It took longer for them to reach headquarters since they took a round trip; Sho had sent his report to Higashiyama, explaining that they succeeded in persuading the navigator and now were on their way back. Everything seemed to go as planned, at least for now. 

***

It was late at night, but Sho hadn’t finished reading the four long reports which were sent by each of his underlings from the four sea territories under his command. Kamakiri Sea, Maboroshi Sea, Kanna Sea and Naraku Sea. The reports were mainly about the pirates who had been growing in numbers for the last three years. Amongst those pirates, there were strong leaders who occupied particular islands. They were out of the Navy’s reach, not mentioning they were by far fewer in numbers, but they possessed power that Sho couldn’t imagine.

Sho finished reading the reports and put them away in the bottom of his desk drawer. He fished out the map instead and took a look at it for a good long time. He recalled the meeting the day before, which had discussed the plan to sail for the hidden island. Ninomiya was there too, he had basically slept half the meeting and only woke at the end, when Higashiyama asked him where the island was located.

Ninomiya swept the room with his sleepy eyes and smirked before answering. “The island is across Naraku sea, you’ll be dead before you could reach it.”

“You’re underestimating us, young man,” Higashiyama said, exchanging a look with Sho.

“I have sailed the most dangerous seas for half of my life,” Sho said directly to Ninomiya. “You don’t need to worry about the risk of our cruise. All you need to do is guide our way.”

Ninomiya shrugged. “Fine by me, but I don’t want to die for the Navy.”

Higashiyama entrusted the mission to Sho. He would depart in ten days, sailing the darkest and the most dangerous sea of Naraku. He had chosen the best sailorsto travel with him, including Ueda. He commanded all units to be ready, particularly in preparing the ship. He checked the progress Ninomiya made on a daily basis. The man had created spectacular maps of the routes they would take during their voyage to the hidden island.

Sho had commanded the special unit to guide the navigator’s room day and night to prevent any intruder from entering the headquarters, not that it was possible anyway. But, something strange happened two days prior to their departure. Ueda rushed into his office with a pale face and shaking voice. 

“Sir, we have a problem,” he said.

“What is this? I have no time for stupid problems, Ueda. As you can see, I’m so busy right now,” Sho answered while tracing the map with the tip of his finger. It was the newest map Ninomiya had made, the alternative route, in case the first course was too dangerous.

“Someone has entered headquarters and snatched the navigator, Sir,” Ueda said while trying to suppress his trembling voice.

Sho lifted his head and looked into the captain’s eyes. It was the ultimate bad joke in the middle of the night, he needed a good two minutes to digest Ueda’s words.

“An intruder…” Sho said.

“Yes, Sir,” Ueda answered.

“Tell me, Captain. That you have done something to arrest them.”

“About that, Sir,” Ueda replied with doubt. “We have an issue.”

Sho ground his teeth and stood up. He approached the captain who shrank in apprehension. “Explain,” he commanded.

“All of the guards are falling asleep, Sir. We have tried to wake them up, but it seems that they are under a spell. We entered the navigator’s chamber and found some murals presumably written by the intruder. The situation is suspicious, Sir. We think that you should take a look at it,” Ueda panted as he tried to speak as fast as he could in one breath.

From Ueda’s report, Sho could conclude that the intruder wasn’t a random person. There was no way they could enter this building without being detected.

“Show me,” he said to Ueda, grabbing his cloak from the chair behind his desk.

“Yes, Sir,” Ueda replied, leading the way towards the northern wing where the chambers of the navigator was located.

Ueda’s unit had smeared the corridor with weapons ready in their hands. They bowed in respect as Sho walked past them. When they arrived at the entrance of the chamber, a weird scene welcomed them. All of the guards are lying on the floor with their eyes closed tightly. Their lips formed a slight smile, as if seeing a very beautiful dream.

“What the fuck,” Sho murmured, looking around the room. It was beyond his imagination, never in his life had he seen this kind of incident.

When Sho approached the chamber, numerous artistic murals welcomed him. He narrowed his eyes and felt the anger climb to his head. All of the murals were mocking words aimed at the navy. He continued his steps into the chamber and found more artistic murals, but this time, they were directed at him.

Admiral Sakurai Sho is a pervert!

Sakurai Sho has three balls and a double-headed-dick!

Sakurai Sho loves fucking below his work table!

Sho pretended he didn’t see the last mural which was written on the ceiling with the utmost artistic font. He was so upset he would choke the writer to death if they were in front of him.

“Sir,” Ueda called him with trembling voice.

“What!?” Sho turned to the captain who didn’t dare to lift his face.

“They left something on the bed.”

Sho approached the bed, perhaps it was just more stupid, insulting words. But it wasn’t, instead a small piece of paper was lying on the pillow with beautiful hand writing. There were only four numbers written on it, something which made Sho’s blood boil up.

3104.

 

To be continued

***.


	2. Chapter 2

Nino opened his eyes, he’d had a very beautiful dream which involved a huge portion of hamburger, delicious wine and a room with hundreds of books that he really wanted to read. The dream was so solid in details, that he couldn’t distinguish it from reality. He slowly looked to his surroundings, but it was clear that he wasn’t inside his room in the Navy headquarters. He could hear people cheering outside, he could smell the salty air, and he could feel that the room was swinging.

He slowly climbed down the bed and peered outside. A man with strange sailor outfit was checking the sky as if expecting something would fall down. A second man approached the sailor; he was short and skinny. He wore a kimono, a traditional outfit from a faraway land named Yamato. He whispered something to the sailor and both of them giggled amusingly.

Nino was about to push the door open when someone pulled it from the outside.

“Oh, good morning, nice to see you awake. You slept like a sleeping beauty last night.”

A man with a nice hairstyle and an outfit which looked like a rock star was on the doorstep. He was smiling at Nino like an old friend.

“We borrowed you from the Navy. We’re going to sail somewhere far and to do that, we’ll need your help,” the man closed the door behind him and entered the room. He was way taller than Nino, his broad chest was clearly seen under his checked shirt.

Nino was still trying to pull himself from the dream he had just seen; he was afraid that he was hallucinating, but the man in front of him was in-the-flesh real, there was no way that he was dreaming.

“My name is Jun, I’m the cook on this ship,” the man said, extending his hand to Nino.

Nino confusedly shook Jun’s hand, not knowing what to say. If it was in normal circumstances, he would have already spilled his comments on the man’s outfit, but now, he was in an unknown place with people he had never seen and they seemed to overpower him.

“Nice to meet you, Nino,” Jun continued. “We brought you here last night from the Navy headquarters last night, the Admiral must be very upset.”

“Wait,” Nino finally found his voice. “Are you kidding me? I have just signed a contract with the Navy. They agreed to pay me an incredible price. Take me back.”

Jun laughed as he heard what Nino said. “I’m afraid we can’t do that, not before you assist us.”

“Who are you?” Nino looked at his surroundings. They were on a ship and from the interior of the room, Nino could tell that the ship wasn’t a fisherman’s ship nor a trader.

The man rose off from his chair, “Follow me, young man,” he gestured to Nino to follow him outside. They walked towards the sailor and kimono man whose eyes locked on Nino as he came out.

“Captain, he’s awake,” Jun said to the kimono-man who appeared to be the captain of this ship.

The man gave Nino an intense gaze as if checking him with some kind of X-ray. He smiled mysteriously and nodded at Jun, “Sho-kun won’t be happy.”

Nino looked back and forth from Jun to the captain. They knew Admiral Sakurai, and the way the captain mentioned Sakurai’s name was like an old friend. 

“Welcome to our ship, Ninomiya-kun,” the sailor man patted him on his shoulder. “I’m Aiba. I’m the doctor of this ship.”

“This is Ohno-san, our captain,” Jun introduced the kimono-man. “The one who abducted you away from the navy headquarters.”

Now Nino recalled that sleepy-looking-captain. He appeared all of a sudden in Nino’s room the night before after making all the guards sleep like the dead. He was the one who wrote all the murals inside Nino’s chamber and made Nino watch it. This man must possess some kind of magic since Nino was unable to move as he appeared inside the room. He eyed the three of them; none of them looked like a bad guy, but this ship was fishy and abducting a navy employee was considered a high-class crime.

“You seem to have so many questions,” Ohno said with a lazy tone.

“Who are you? Why are you abducting me? Where are we going?” Nino tried to speak with his usual confidence.

Ohno’s lips curved into a smile; he glanced at Aiba and Jun before answering. “We’re pirates,” he answered. “And like every other pirates, we’re looking for treasure and to do that, we need a high-skilled navigator.”

“The Navy will not just sit down and let you get away,” Nino said, trying not to sound like a coward, even though he was scared. He had dealt with pirates, but none of them had abducted him with magic tricks. They paid him to lead them towards a certain island and let him go afterwards. Pirates were his least favorite to work with because they brought out the worst in people. 

“I’m expecting them,” Ohno replied. “It must be interesting, the pirates and the navy fighting over a single navigator.”

Nino averted his gaze away from the captain, he couldn’t do anything at the moment. He was truly alone in the enemy’s nest. It was better to behave and do as they tell him until Sakurai’s troops came to save him. He was sure that Sakurai would come; Nino was their potential key to cross Naraku Sea, losing him to a group of pirates wasn’t an option.

“You must be hungry, let’s have some breakfast,” Jun said, turning around towards the inner deck of the ship.

“Nice idea, come, Nino,” Aiba said and followed Jun inside.

Nino cringed as Aiba addressed him with his nick name. He wasn’t good at making friends; the conversation with the people he met was mostly about money.

“You look like you’re starving to death,” Ohno approached him. Their height was almost the same, only that Ohno’s skin was way darker than Nino’s. “Sho-kun will be angry if we don’t feed you well,” Ohno continued while grabbing Nino’s wrist and leading him to the main deck.

Nino freed his hand from Ohno’s grip which gained a questioning look from the man, but he said nothing. He followed Ohno’s steps towards the deck where Jun was preparing the meal, he tried to keep the distance between him and the captain as far as he could. He was afraid that this weird guy would hypnotize him and make him sleep again.

There were four other men around the dining table; all of them with a different outfit. When Ohno approached, all of them stood up and bowed to him with respect. Nino planned to return to the room where they kept him last night, but his stomach growled loudly at the wrong time.

“Nino, come here. Jun’s cooking is the best thing on earth,” Aiba called him with a broad smile, as if Nino was a part of them since the very beginning instead of a man they abducted from the Navy.

“A storm will hit the sea soon, let’s eat before you can’t even stand on the deck,” Ohno said, glancing to his underlings around the table who nodded in agreement.

“I know, I’m a navigator, I can tell when the storm will come,” Nino answered. “And the one approaching us is one of the worst.”

Nobody made a surprised expression upon Nino’s statement. They continued eating as if a bad storm was just a usual part of their days. Well, what could Nino expect from pirates whose life was all about crossing the seas?

“The food will be gone if you don’t join us,” Ohno said, gesturing to Nino to sit beside him.

Nino frowned, he did as Ohno said and filled his plate with salad and a piece of bread. He glanced at Jun who was busy cutting a big slice of cheese and dividing it for everyone around the table. These pirates weren’t just pirates, Nino thought while observing them. All of them looked well educated and well groomed. The way Jun prepare the meal was no different compared to the high-class chef in the Navy. Nino began eating and listened to Aiba who was voluntarily introducing everyone around the table to Nino.

“That is Kamenashi kun, Fukushi-kun, Suda-kun and Chinen-kun. They are very nice, you can talk to them later,” Aiba said cheerfully.

Nino glanced at Chinen, he was probably the youngest among them and now was looking at Nino with narrowed eyes.

“He’s always gets a little jealous if someone gets close to Ohno-san,” Aiba explained from his right side.

“Not my business,” Nino mumbled from the corner of his mouth.

Aiba giggled, as if Nino’s cold attitude was something funny. He happily introduced Nino to everyone and named him as the best navigator of the century. Nino only nodded slightly and enjoyed the meal in silence. All of the crew talked of their last cruise to Azuki Island where they found many pretty women. Ohno, on the contrary was quiet during breakfast. He turned to Nino when he felt the latter’s gaze and flashed a slight smile which Nino couldn’t return.

As predicted, the storm came right after they finished their meal. Jun had just disappeared to wash the dishes when the strong wind hit the ship.

“Everyone, get to your station!” Ohno ordered.

All of the crew members ran towards their respective stations; Suda and Fukushi worked together to roll up the main sail. Kamenashi and Chinen worked on the second sail, Ohno meanwhile held the wheel, ready to fight the storm.

“Nino, here!” Jun grabbed his hand and guided him towards the inner deck. “Don’t go to the upper deck, until the storm stops, do you understand?”

“I can be of help, you know,” Nino argued instead of obeying Jun’s order. He had experienced several storms during his career as a navigator. Although he mostly ended up vomiting, but he was still able to navigate the way, leading the ship to a safer area.

“This is not just a storm, stay here,” Jun said with a last commanding voice and Nino had no choice but to obey.

The ship began to swing wildly as the huge waves swept it. Nino could hear the thunder, the sound of the wind and the upset ocean. He had been on numerous voyages before, but never aboard this size of ship. He only worked for the richest guys who hungered for sea treasure. They normally possessed a yacht which didn’t really swing even on turbulent seas. But, this ship was rather small and Nino was sure that it would sink anytime soon. 

Nino could hear Ohno’s voice giving commands and he was surprised to find how calm the captain was. Well, storms were basically a daily thing for pirates, but no matter how much they get used to it, Ohno’s calmness was too odd. From the glass window, Nino could see the high tide outside, the sea water filled half of the front deck. Ohno was on the helm, he controlled it as if they only went past a current instead of a storm.

Nino was so busy admiring the captain that he loosened his grip from the pillar. What happened next was too fast for his brain to catch. He fell down to the slippery floor; the door of the inner deck fluttered open and he was thrown outside as the high tide hit the ship. Nino tried to yell for help, but his voice was muffled by the wind. The ship tilted to the right side, sending Nino into the tumultuous sea. This is how he was going to die, Nino thought as his skin touched the cold water. But just as he thought that he was sinking, something strange happened. The water under him didn’t swallow him, it brought Nino back to the deck of the ship. He tried to grasp what was happening, but it was too fast. A pair of strong hands grabbed his shoulder; Jun’s face in front of him, screaming angrily.

“I told you not to go outside!”

Nino tried to answer, but his voice seemed to leave him. From the corner of his eyes, he saw Ohno holding his right hand. He was bleeding.

“If you do stupid thing again, I’ll be the one who will throw you into the abyss,” Jun said, gripping Nino’s shoulder and dragged him to the inner deck once again. Nino tried to check on Ohno, but the captain couldn’t be seen anymore, Jun had brought him to another deck to make sure that he wouldn’t go out again.

They finally got out of the stormy sea, but the rain was still pouring hard. Nino was shivering in his wet clothes, he curled up on the wooden chair, waiting for the other crew. He didn’t want to risk his neck after Jun’s harsh warning and chose to stay inside.

The door finally fluttered open; Jun entered the deck, followed by Aiba and Ohno who were arguing about the captain’s wound.

“Let me take care of it,” Aiba said.

“It’s just a small wound, Aiba-chan. You don’t need to waste your bandage on it,” Ohno replied, glancing at Nino.

“Captain, Aiba-kun knows better than you. Do as he says,” Jun chirped in, crossing his hands over his chest with a dark expression. He shifted his gaze to Nino before approaching him. The latter grimaced, anticipating a punch, but all Jun did was placing his hands above Nino’s shoulders.

“Are you alright?”

Jun’s expression was different this time, he was no longer angry, on the contrary, he showed worry and concern.

“Falling into the sea during a storm is not a pleasant experience,” Aiba said while examining Ohno’s wounded arm. “Don’t worry, I fell all the time,” he continued. His way of speaking didn’t indicate that falling into a turbulent sea was frightening; Aiba said it as if he was falling into a swimming pool during a hot summer.

“Don’t put more of a burden on the captain than you already did,” Jun frowned at Aiba.

Nino looked at Ohno’s wounded hand; it wasn’t a normal injury. The blood poured from a hole in his skin as if there was a needle stabbed there. His puzzling expression must have been reflected on his face as Jun started to explain.

“Have you heard of the Orion power?” Jun asked.

“Yes, I have. But I have never met anyone with that power,” Nino replied.

“You have encountered one,” Jun said. “Admiral Sakurai, he can control the wind. Our captain here can control the waves.”

Nino looked at Ohno whose expression was rather bored as Aiba applied antiseptic on his injured hand.

“Their power is unlimited, but under one condition,” Jun continued his explanation. “They must not use their power against nature. For instance, the storm. If they try to control the nature, they will get hurt. If they don’t stop within the allowed time, they will die,” the man looked at Ohno and returned his gaze to Nino.

“Does that mean…?”

“The Captain got hurt when he saved you from sinking, he used his power against nature, that’s why he got a hole on his hand,” Jun said.

“It’s alright, Matsujun,” Ohno lifted his healthy hand. “It’s just a small wound. We can’t lose our navigator to a storm,” he continued lightly.

“Thank you, Captain,” Nino muttered. He hated himself for losing his confidence every time he met the Captain’s eyes. Unlike Admiral Sakurai who was so easy to manipulate; Ohno seemed to possess some kind of controlling aura around him. 

“You’d better get some rest,” Aiba said to everyone.

“We’re heading to an island to get our supplies before we depart for our main destination,” Jun explained to Nino. “That’s when we need your help.”

Nino nodded, not knowing how to argue that he didn’t want to work without payment. “What if Sakurai-san follows us?” he voiced his concern.

“That will be the most interesting part of our cruise,” Ohno answered; flashing a weak smile at Nino.

Nino grimaced, he believed in Ohno’s unlimited power, but Sakurai’s troops would outnumber them. Well, it was none of his concern if the Navy arrested Ohno and his crew; nobody would hurt him anyway. Both, the Navy and pirates needed his presence and they would keep him safe all the time.

The three of them left him inside the deck. A few minutes later, Chinen came to bring him a pair of dry clothes. He didn’t say anything to Nino and left as Nino took the clothes.

Nino couldn’t sleep that night; he thought of too many things. Was it okay to trust Ohno? What should he do if Sakurai’s soldiers come to take him back? What if Ohno decided to kill him in order to shorten the story? But the captain seemed kind-hearted, despite of being a pirate. His image was far from the pirates Nino had known. What kind of pirate wore a kimono?

He climbed down the bed and walked outside. The sky was bright that night, the sea was calm, and the wind blew weakly; it was chilly though as Nino only wore a thin shirt. The crew was asleep, except the one who was in charge of the ship’s wheel. Nino tiptoed until he reached the edge of the deck; he tilted his head to the sky, towards the stars in order to locate their position. He fished the compass from his pocket and found out that they were near Spiral Island. It was the last island before Naraku sea; the sea which was mostly avoided because of its darkness and mystery.

Nino shoved the compass back into his pocket and jerked surprisingly when he saw Ohno on his right side; he hadn’t heard the man coming.

“We’ll be arriving at Spiral Island by dawn,” Ohno said as if reading Nino’s mind. “Have you been there?”

“No,” Nino shook his head. “The island doesn’t hold any gold; my employers don’t go to that place.”

“You’re quite popular, you know,” Ohno said, looking at Nino with a playful smile. “I’ve heard you charge a very expensive price for your service.”

“I do,” Nino answered immediately. “How much you will pay me for my service?”

Ohno chuckled lightly as he heard Nino’s question. “We have no money to pay you,” he said.

“What makes you think that I will work for you?” Nino asked, ignoring his increasing heartbeat.

Ohno stepped closer, his nice-shaped lips curved in a smile. “I just do.”

“How do you know that I will not lead you to the wrong destination?” Nino asked again. His back bumped to the cold wooden deck in order to get further from Ohno as the captain was too close.

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you, Ninomiya Kazunari,” Ohno whispered, he lifted his fingers to Nino’s face and caressed his cheek. “What you’ve been doing is not so different than pirating. I bet you’ve known what the Navy is planning, do you think you can get away with such precious information? Everyone will hunt you down to pry out what you’ve heard.”

Nino shivered as the stronger wind hit his skin, he tried to jerk away from Ohno, but he couldn’t move. The captain’s face was just a few inches before him.

“I will protect you if you cooperate with us,” Ohno said with another whisper which sent another shiver through Nino and it had nothing to do with the cold air.

“Sakurai-san said the same thing,” Nino said with a shaking voice.

Ohno finally drew away, his eyes locked to the dark sea ahead of them. “Sho-kun is a great soldier, I admit it. I never stood in his way for all of this time, but for now, I have to.”

“Wait, do you know each other?” Nino asked. He had heard how Ohno mentioned Sakurai’s name with a familiar tone ever since he boarded this ship.

“Sort of,” Ohno shrugged.

“How?”

Ohno touched his wounded arm and said nothing for minutes. When he spoke again, his tone was lighter. “Get some sleep, Nino. We have a long day ahead.”

Nino looked at the captain; he had known this man for less than a day, but he began to put his trust in him. It was something beyond his understanding and he had never experienced it before. Was it Ohno’s other power which made people obey him? Or was it because Nino simply admired the captain for his calmness and readiness?

He could tell that Jun and Aiba as well as the rest of the crew have a high respect for their captain. But it was different than what Nino witnessed in the Navy. Sakurai’s underlings were afraid of him instead of respecting the Admiral. Although Sakurai fulfilled every aspect of a leader; he didn’t possess something Ohno had.

 

Nino finally fell asleep past midnight. Someone shook his shoulder to wake him up when the ship had arrived at Spiral Island. Nino opened his lids slowly and found Aiba, smiling at him.

 

“It’s morning, Nino. Wake up.”

 

Nino groaned and blinked a few times; it was still dark outside.

 

“Come on, we have many things to do,” Aiba said with a cheerful tone.

 

He lazily followed the doctor outside the inner deck. Ohno and the rest of the crew were ready to leave the ship. The captain turned his head to Nino briefly before returning his attention to his crew.

 

“We’ll gather here at two,” Ohno said. “Our cruise after this is more dangerous than what we have been through. Don’t buy too many things which weigh us down in the end.”

 

“Yes, captain,” all of them answered at the same time.

 

Nino and Aiba approached Ohno; the captain smiled at them both and glanced at the sunny sky.

 

“You will travel with me,” Ohno said to both of them.

 

“Where to?” Nino asked before he could hold himself.

 

None of them answered; they only offered a soft smile to Nino.

TBC

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I started writing this series from June this year. I was kind of obsessed with One Piece lately and I was happy that V6's song became the newest opening soundtrack for the anime.


	3. Chapter 3

Sho looked at the message for many long minutes.

3104

It was a pirate group Sho had been pursuing for a long time. They owned a ship which let them employ a high camouflage technique in order to avoid the Navy. The captain – Ohno Satoshi – was ironically Sho’s best friend until they went their separate ways. Sho had guessed it was Ohno’s doing when he saw the murals; nobody else could write those artistic murals within such a short time. They used to insult each other when they were kids; the mockery on the walls were exactly the same words Ohno used to make Sho cry back then.

Sho never thought that he would reunite with his old friend this way. He had been expecting something more casual which didn’t involve his position as a Navy soldier. He wished he could meet Ohno in a coffee shop where they could talk about their past – as friends. But now, he was assigned to arrest the 3104 crew dead or alive for kidnapping the Navy’s navigator.

Higashiyama Fleet Admiral was furious when he knew that Ninomiya was kidnapped under their nose. He immediately tasked Sho to search for the kidnapper and arrest them dead or alive. Everyone in the Navy had known that searching for 3104 pirates was as difficult as finding a needle in a haystack, but Sho had a hunch, that this time, Ohno would show himself.

The mission to the hidden island was automatically delayed until they could take Ninomiya back from the pirates. They were now facing a bigger problem; Ninomiya had heard the plan, Ohno would make him talk and the Navy’s classified plan was no longer secret. It would leave no choice for Sho other than killing all of the 3104 crew.

“They are heading to Spiral Island, Sir,” Ueda reported.

“Be careful, Ueda. It’s fishy to find them this easy. They must have something planned, don’t underestimate those pirates. They have power that we can’t imagine,” Sho said, squishing the map in his fist. He couldn’t describe what he felt right now; it seemed that his chance in winning Ninomiya back was small. Ohno was better than him at almost everything, if only he had decided to become a soldier, he would have been appointed as an Admiral, perhaps earlier than Sho did.

That Ohno would become his opponent, he was worlds apart from their childhood friendship. An old friend who chose to become a criminal instead of enforcing justice. Sho heaved a deep sigh; he had no choice, Ohno was a pirate that he needed to capture. Their friendship couldn’t erase the reality that they were enemies by profession.

They arrived at the main port of Spiral Island when it was almost dark. Sho looked around, in hope that he could find Ohno’s ship (he had seen its picture), but none of the moored ships resembled Ohno’s. Sho commanded his troops to disembark the ship in small groups in order to avoid extra attention; he didn’t want Ohno’s crew to realize their presence and escape before he could grab Ninomiya back.

Sho disembarked from the ship by himself and headed to the center of the island which was located not too far from the harbor. Ohno must have stopped here in preparation for a long cruise; was it by chance that he abducted Ninomiya for the same purpose? Did Ohno find out about the hidden weapon and try to get it ahead of the Navy? The thoughts sent a chill to Sho’s stomach, he didn’t dare imagine what would happen if that massive weapon fell into the wrong hands.

He kept on walking while searching for the pirate crew. This island was widely known as a supermarket for sailors. They shored here to get huge supplies for a long journey. Sho had visited this island a few times when he was out on a mission that took longer than three months. There were many shops along the street; divided into several categories. The first block held clothing shops, they provided various models, from the ancient until the newest fashion. The second block was filled by antique shops where they could find the weirdest items. The last block was the food area which was Sho’s favorite since this was where he could find his beloved curry rice that was exclusive to this island.

Sho was now walking through the second block; people with black hoods covering their faces passed him by. He stepped with a slow and deliberate pace, he didn’t know whether Ohno was a fan of antique collections, but there was nothing wrong in trusting his hunch. Sho gripped the handle of his sword. He was ready to fight Ohno’s crew in case they suddenly appeared in front of him.

He stopped in front of a shop which displayed various kinds of silver cups when he heard a familiar voice behind him.

“It’s so heavy, Aiba-san, help me carry it.”

Sho turned to the voice and his eyes met Ninomiya’s, the man was holding a bag in his hands. Sho then looked at two men on his right and left side. One of them was tall and slim, the other one was short and skinny. Sho’s eyes widened when he recognized that face.

“Satoshi-kun,” he whispered.

Ohno had become a fine adult man. He wore a black cloak over his shoulder; a black shirt and a pair of black boots. His skin was so much tanned, but it didn’t make him less attractive. Ohno was always charming, he had his own fan base when they were still at school. The youthfulness of his face was gone, the full cheeks no longer existed, instead replaced by a few scars. If they were in happier circumstances, Sho would have already hugged his friend. He had been dying to see Ohno in person, to make sure that he was fine.

Ohno’s lips curved in a smirk – a kind of smirk which underestimated his opponent. He gave Sho an intense gaze, perhaps he was also measuring how Sho appeared. Sho couldn’t draw the sword from his scabbard, he couldn’t even move. He always told himself to get rid of criminals, but it was easier said than done. Particularly when the criminal was the person he considered as his brother.

“Yo, Sho-kun,” Ohno replied casually. “You look good in that uniform.”

Sho braced himself and tried to speak with the authority in his voice.

“I’m here to take that kid back, Satoshi,” Sho said, gesturing at Nino.

“I know,” Ohno smiled lazily. “But I think he’s not a kid anymore, he grows some hair on his…anyway, don’t you think that my graffiti is artistic?”

Sho ground his teeth; Ohno was always the calmer one, always had something funny to say and he hated to admit that he missed Ohno’s jokes.

“Those murals will add to your charges once we arrest you,” Sho said.

“That’s great, I should have written more,” Ohno answered playfully. “Where are your underlings?” Ohno looked around. 

“I don’t need any underlings just to arrest you,” Sho clicked his finger, an air ball formed in his right hand.

“Wait, wait,” Ohno waved it off. “I’m not in the mood to fight. I just borrowed Nino for a couple of days and I will return him to you, deal?”

Sho gave no answer; he threw the ball towards Ohno who dodged it easily – something that he had predicted. An explosion occurred as the ball hit the ground. The air pressure had broken the glass windows at nearby shops, people’s screams were heard and everyone came out to find out what was going on.

“Aiba, protect Nino while I’m having some fun with my old friend,” Ohno commanded the taller man.

“Everyone, please don’t panic,” Sho said loudly to the crowd of people who had gathered to see the fight. “I’m a Navy Admiral and I’m here to arrest that man,” he gestured to Ohno. “That man is the most dangerous pirate and I’m here to teach him a lesson. I’ll deal with the casualties later once we finish.”

“Nice offer,” Ohno said. “But I think we will cause no more casualties than you already did.”

Sho collected the wind towards himself and pointed it to Ohno; the man dodged it, but it had hit Ohno’s left arm. Sho made another attack by firing bullets he generated from the air around him, it reminded him of his training with Ohno, but this time, they fought for real.

Ohno’s movement was so fast; he approached Sho in an instant, his hand closing around Sho’s wrist. The strength was enough to break Sho’s bone, he leaned closer to Sho and smiled.

“Sho-kun, you’d better join my crew,” Ohno whispered.

“You’d better keep dreaming about it,” Sho replied while grimacing in pain as Ohno twisted his wrist. This man was way much stronger than Sho anticipated. He thought that he was finally close to defeating Ohno, but he was so wrong.

“Then I’ll kidnap you to sail with us,” Ohno said while smiling.

“Don’t even…” Sho didn’t see what happened next, as he suddenly collapsed.

***

“What did you do to him?” Nino approached Ohno as Sho fell onto the ground.

Ohno grinned innocently and glanced at Aiba who shrugged. The doctor handed the heavy bag to Ohno and approached Sho to check him.

“Everyone, this man is a little bit out of his mind,” Ohno said to the crowd of people. “He thinks that he’s a Navy Admiral and tries to arrest random people he considers as pirates. But don’t worry, we’ll take care of him.”

Ohno glanced at Nino who was about to say something but cancelled it half-way. The crowd dispersed along with buzzing about how the current situation had caused stress among young people. Nino glanced at Sho’s sleeping figure and then at Ohno.

“You guys are friends?” he said with wide eyes.

“Well, sort of,” Ohno replied shortly. “We have to go, come on Nino.”

“How about him?”

“Aiba will take care of him,” Ohno said.

“Wait, do you mean you’ll bring him along?” Nino asked.

Ohno stopped and turned at the man. “If you keep on asking, I’ll kiss you to silence your mouth.”

The adorable blush spread across Nino’s cheeks, he pouted and averted his gaze away from Ohno. The latter smiled in victory while helping Aiba to lift Sho onto his back. Ohno shouldered the heavy bag and led the way towards the harbor. Jun and the rest of the crew had been waiting for them there. Jun’s eyes went to Sho’s sleeping figure before fixing his gaze to Ohno.

“You’re bleeding,” he said, gesturing to Ohno’s arm.

“It’s just a little wound,” Ohno replied.

“Your previous wound hasn’t healed and now you’ve already hurt yourself again,” Jun clicked his tongue – half-concerned, half-criticizing.

“I’m fine, Jun-kun,” he said to the taller man. “We got the Admiral,” Ohno continued.

“That’s great. We have taken care of his underlings, let’s go before they regain their strength,” Jun said, gesturing towards the others to board the ship.

“Come on, Nino,” Ohno offered his hand to help Nino board the ship, but the man refused.

“I’m not a kid,” he grumbled. “And I don’t need help from a wounded person.”

Ohno smiled and stepped ahead of him. He put down the heavy bag on the deck and returned to the ladder to help Aiba who carried Sho on his back. It would be hours until Sho woke up; they would be half-way heading Naraku Sea by then. They brought the man to the inner deck and lay him down on the bed.

“You gave him too big of a dose,” Aiba protested. “He’s so heavy,” he added, stretching his arms.

“Sorry, I just wanted to put him to sleep as fast as I could,” Ohno said, returning the micro needle to Aiba. He was the expert in making the sleeping formula which Ohno had also used when he kidnapped Nino. Ohno’s ninja-like speed was needed to stab the needles without being detected and just like Sho, they collapsed before knowing what happened.

“Do you think he’ll cooperate with us?” Aiba asked, gesturing to Sho.

“If he wants his navigator back, he has to cooperate,” Ohno replied.

“Ohno-san,” Aiba gave Ohno a rare serious look. “What if we can’t make it…I mean, Naraku Sea and the Hidden Island are…”

Ohno averted his gaze from Aiba to Sho’s sleeping face, he rubbed his chin and said. “We will make it, Aiba-kun. Don’t worry.”

Aiba nodded, but he was half-convinced. The doctor didn’t agree with Ohno’s plan at first, telling him that there was no need for them to sail through Naraku Sea. But, that was the fastest route or they would need to go around, which would take another six months. Ohno didn’t want to delay their voyage. Sooner or later, the other pirates would find out about the Hidden Island. He didn’t want to get into a war with them.

Ohno left the cabin and stepped outside. He found Nino was sitting at the poop deck with head rested on the wooden wall. He was looking at the sky, his pale skin was too contrast with the dark wood. Ohno approached him and sat down beside the man.

“Did you find our heading?” Ohno asked.

Nino looked to Ohno while fishing a compass from his pocket. “I can only locate the Hidden Island once we pass Naraku Sea,” he said.

“That’s great,” Ohno replied. “We’ll be departing soon to that sea.”

“What will you do with the weapon?” Nino asked.

“Didn’t I tell you not to ask questions,” Ohno said while leaning closer. “Or perhaps, you really want to kiss me, I’m not complaining, though. I haven’t kissed anyone for ages.”

Nino rolled his eyes and glared at Ohno as if telling him that his flirting was out of date. “I don’t want to navigate your voyage without knowing your true purpose and I don’t want to kiss the captain for asking questions, that’s the worst flirting technique I’ve ever heard.”

Ohno pouted and crossed his hands over his chest. “I will tell you the details when the time comes, and I’ll try hard to make you kiss me,” he added which only made Nino angrier. Ohno liked seeing Nino’s angry face, the young navigator had raised his interest. It evoked something inside him that he hadn’t felt for a long time. He never was a flirt – Jun was – and he could feel Jun’s suspicious gaze every time he lay an eye on Nino.

Nino snorted and stood abruptly. He walked towards the cabin, his over-sized clothes made him look skinnier than he already was.

“What about the kiss?” Ohno asked, but Nino chose to ignore him.

“Stop flirting, we have to leave, captain,” Jun said from the quarter deck; hands crossed over his chest. Ohno wondered why Jun was always so serious when he talked to him. Aiba once said that Jun wanted to make Ohno more authoritative, but it wasn’t in Ohno’s nature in the first place.

“Alright, alright,” Ohno answered. “Let’s go everyone, you know what to do,” he commanded lazily to the crews.

Jun shook his head and repeated Ohno’s orders on his behalf. It was like that from the beginning, Ohno thought. Jun was the one Ohno could rely on; he was much better in leading people, he was also good in communicating. Ohno, on the other hand, hated his role as captain, he didn’t mean to become one in the first place, but Jun and Aiba considered him their leader. Both of them were Ohno’s first crew members. They sailed half of the ocean and along their journey, more crews joined the 3104 pirates.

Ohno chose to become a pirate to represent his disappointment towards the world order, particularly to the government, including the Navy. He felt sorry for Sho, but he never regretted his decision. His pirating way was different, instead of robbing people, Ohno stole government assets and share them with poor people on the remote islands. Without him realizing it, he had become some kind of hero for the people and a threat to the government at the same time. 

“We’re heading northeast,” Nino commanded Suda who was holding the ship’s wheel.

“He cooperates sooner than I expected,” Jun commented, giving Ohno a weak smile. 

“That’s part of my charm,” Ohno replied.

Jun rolled his eyes but said nothing. He joined Suda and talked about the new clothes they had bought on Spiral Island. 

Ohno left Jun and headed towards the captain’s cabin, greeting the other crew members on his way. He gave Chinen a friendly pat on his back before entering the room. The time had come, Ohno thought; he had been planning this voyage for a long time. He had known the existence of the Hidden Island even before people speculated about it. But he faced the same problem that he couldn’t locate it, no matter how hard he had tried to collect the information regarding the mysterious island. Then, he met his luck when he decided to go for a gamble in Niji Island. He coincidently played the trump card at the same table with Ninomiya, but before he had a chance to convince the navigator to cooperate with him, Sho had done it ahead of him. Ohno was surprised that Sho was more careless than what he thought. He should have been more careful on an island full of criminals and he should have paid more attention to the suspicious person with a hood covering their head.

But thanks to Sho’s carelessness, he had the idea to abduct Nino from the Navy’s headquarters. Entering the headquarters was an easy thing for Ohno, he did it with Aiba and Jun’s support. He put all of the soldiers to sleep as well as Nino, painted the wall with graffiti and then abducted Nino.

It would be a gamble to sail Naraku Sea and they didn’t even know what they would find at the Hidden Island; something very dangerous might be waiting for them. Ohno had told his crew members to leave, since he didn’t want them to risk their lives for Ohno’s selfish plan, but none of them did. All of them decided to stay and chose to live or die with him on an adventure. Well, he hoped that none of them needed to die.

He had heard that no one had crossed Naraku Sea before. The Navy did, but only on the outer waters, they hadn’t sailed far enough to the center of the sea. Ohno had studied the mysterious sea; it kept something beyond imagination. That was why he needed Sho on his side. They could combine their power to sail the sea; they could protect the other crews together.

Ohno had been training hard for this sail, as well as Jun and Aiba. Although neither of them possessed powers to control nature elements, they were still great fighters. Aiba was the one who always saved Ohno from the verge of death; Jun was the one who shared useful ideas and advice for their plans. The other crews respected Jun and Aiba as much as they respected Ohno. They were loyal and always ready for Ohno’s crazy plans. Now, with Nino and Sho onboard, Ohno was sure that their voyage would go as planned.

Their ship started its journey towards Naraku Sea; for some reasons, Ohno felt more nervous than usual. He understood it as excitement and smiled at himself.

He heard a knock on the door, turned around from his chair and saw Nino on the doorframe. He entered the cabin without being told and closed the door behind him.

“Aiba-kun told me to bring this for you,” Nino said, showing Ohno a set of bandages and iodine.

“I always forget to take care of my wound,” Ohno replied.

Nino looked at him as if waiting for Ohno to say more, but when he kept silent, the navigator finally decided to come closer and put the medicine tray on Ohno’s desk.

“You don’t need a doctor to take care of small wound,” Nino said.

“You’re right,” Ohno replied and was about to put off his cloak, but Nino was faster than him. He loosened Ohno’s cloak and started unbuttoning his shirt. The movement was unpredicted and Ohno couldn’t hide his racing heartbeat with Nino so close.

“I’m here to take care of your wound, captain,” Nino said unclearly.

“So, you admitted me as your captain now?” Ohno asked playfully, watching Nino as he applied the alcohol to his arm.

“You saved my life,” Nino answered. “But I still ask for payment once we accomplished this mission.”

Ohno smiled at Nino’s words. This man was purer than what Ohno thought he was and this was the second time he saw Nino this close. When Ohno abducted him from the Navy headquarters, he took a close look at Nino’s sleeping face just to make sure that he kidnapped the right person.

He didn’t know how old Nino was, but he seemed a few years younger than Ohno. The man had a beautiful nose above his tempting lips. Ohno shifted his gaze to Nino’s hands, they were probably the cutest hands he had ever seen. When Nino finished wrapping the bandage around Ohno’s arm, he accidentally caught the man’s hand and squished it.

“What’s that for?” Nino asked.

“Grateful,” Ohno replied.

Nino didn’t make any attempt to pull it away, his sight locked to Ohno’s naked chest. “You have too many scars,” he commented.

“I do?” Ohno asked in return.

Ohno didn’t think any further as he pulled Nino’s face closer and kissed him. He didn’t want to question his feelings anymore, albeit he had just met Nino two nights ago. If their mission didn’t make it, at least he had kissed him.

Nino dropped the medicine tray and struggled, but Ohno tightened his embrace to prevent the man from moving.

The door fluttered open, revealing Jun’s figure. Nino quickly pulled away from Ohno, took the medicine tray from the floor and ran outside, bumping Jun’s shoulder on his way out, but he didn’t stop to apologize.

“Sorry for disturbing,” he said while Ohno put on his clothes.

“He took care of my wounds,” Ohno murmured.

“Better than Aiba, I presume,” Jun said, giving Ohno an understandable grin. He waited until Ohno finished putting on his cloak. “Sakurai is awake and is attacking Aiba.”

“Let’s tame him,” Ohno said, heading towards the exit with Jun behind him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so overwhelmed with this semester, there are a bunch of papers that I need to write plus the weekly assignment, plus the seminar class, omg, I miss reading novels while drinking coffee :(


	4. Chapter 4

Ohno entered the cabin where they kept Sho, with Jun behind him. They found Sho suppressing Aiba to the floor. Sho’s fist tightened, ready to punch Aiba’s face, but before he could follow through, Jun moved lightning fast towards both men and grabbed Sho’s wrist.

“Knock it off, let Aiba go!” Jun said.

“Don’t you dare to command me, who do you think I am?” Sho hissed, as he fought to free himself from Jun’s grip, but it seemed that their strength was equal.

Sho let go of Aiba, but in the next second, he made an air ball and pointed it at Jun. Ohno moved fast enough to grip Sho’s hand and threw the ball towards the cabin wall. Its strength was enough to destroy the wooden wall.

“Don’t hurt my crew,” Ohno said, offering a smile at his old friend. “Calm down, Sho-kun. We need to talk.”

“I have no obligation to obey you, Satoshi,” Sho said, his eyes still locked on Jun’s face as the latter tried to break Sho’s fingers in that moment.

“You’re on my ship, so technically I’m the captain,” Ohno gestured to Jun to let Sho go. “I wouldn’t have taken you with us if it wasn’t necessary. Commanding the Navy must be more interesting than joining a pirate crew.”

Jun loosened his grip and freed Sho; the latter straightening his uniform in style and returning his attention to Ohno. “Where are we heading?” he asked.

“The island across Naraku Sea,” Ohno replied. He waited for Sho’s reaction, but the man only inhaled a deep breath.

“My guess was right,” Sho said, looking around the cabin. “You’re chasing the weapon as well.”

Ohno smirked, approaching Sho and circling his arm around the man’s shoulder. Sho didn’t jerk, he only gave Ohno a disbelieving look.

“You kidnapped the navigator and now you’re forcing the Navy’s Admiral to join your voyage,” Sho said with a rather sarcastic tone. “You’re underestimating the navy too much, Satoshi.”

Ohno squished Sho’s shoulder and glanced at Aiba and Jun. “I only have six underlings and only the two of them I can rely on. I have no chance to fight against the mighty navy.” Ohno paused a while and continued. “But, cruising Naraku Sea is difficult, even for the most experienced navy’s personnel. I’m afraid that we have to cooperate to make it happen.”

“And how do you know that I wouldagree to work with you?” Sho asked.

Ohno smiled; Sho asked the exact same question as Nino and his answer was also the same.

“I just do,” he said.

He released Sho and walked out of the cabin. Jun would do the rest of the talking and Sho would eventually be convinced. Ohno could hear the sound of the wind as he walked towards the main deck. Suda was there, gripping the wheel while observing the sky which had turned darker. Ohno gave the man a friendly pat on his shoulder and continued his steps towards the quarterdeck. Nino was standing on the edge of the deck, holding a pair of binoculars in his hands.

“Have you found something interesting?” Ohno asked.

Nino ignored him, perhaps he was still angry about the sudden kiss Ohno gave him. Ohno looked at the endless sea before him; they had been sailing Naraku Sea for almost an hour. The calmness of the air seemed to hide some danger, the sky had changed color before they realized it and all of a sudden, they went through a chilling passage.

“We’re on the right path,” Nino said after five minutes had passed. He put down his binoculars and moved his gaze to Ohno. “We’re going to the darkest tunnel of this sea, whatever that means,” he continued.

“How long do we have?” Ohno asked.

“Maybe an hour,” Nino checked the compass and looked around. “I don’t know how this sea works, maybe it will kill us before we reach our destination.”

“I’ll protect you, don’t worry,” Ohno smiled at the navigator.

“You’re such a flirt, you’d better take good care of your wound,” Nino mumbled.

They stood side by side in silence; Ohno was alert for the first time. It was the reason why he took Sho onboard; both of them could use their ability in an emergency situation. He was sure that Sho would understand, besides, Ohno hadn’t talked about his further intention. Sho would thank him at the end of this voyage.

Jun joined them a moment later, his eyes followed the thick cloud above them; a reluctant Sho following behind him. Ohno watched both of them as they approached the quarter deck, the two men fit every description of reliable and he was lucky that one of them was his most loyal underling. Jun never questioned his decisions, no matter how stupid it was. When Ohno talked about their plan to sail Naraku Sea, he agreed immediately. Ohno knew that Jun could be a great pirate on his own, he was thirsty for dangerous adventure, he was brave and he had an ability to negotiate, a skill that Ohno could never maintain.

“The air is getting colder,” Jun commented.

“We’ll be sailing through the dark tunnel of this sea,” Nino answered, glancing at Sho.

Sho’s face was a little bit swollen, perhaps Jun had given him a punch just now. He stepped towards the edge of the deck, leaning on the wooden wall and crossing his hands over his chest.

“I should be sailing here with my crew right now,” he mumbled.

“Your crew will never make it,” Ohno replied. “Come, I need to talk with you.”

Ohno guided the way towards the captain’s cabin, leaving Jun and Nino on the quarter deck. He could feel Jun’s questioning gaze behind him, but he had no intention to tell the rest of his crew about it, the agreement he would make with Sho – as an Admiral.

***

The air was getting colder as they continued their sailing. Aiba warned everyone to wear their coats to avoid sudden hypothermia meanwhile Jun made them hot soup to fight against the chilling wind. Sho thanked him as he took a bowl from the tray. He sat down on the far corner of the quarter deck, separated from the rest of Ohno’s crew.

His left jaw was hurt, he didn’t expect Jun’s punch would have been that hard. He finally agreed to cooperate with them since he had no other way out from this ship. He couldn’t win against Ohno in order to make an escape, he couldn’t communicate with his underlings from this ship and there was nothing technically wrong if he followed Ohno’s voyage. He could reach the island, just like the Navy had planned, regardless that he had got there on a pirate’s ship.

Ohno had mentioned several times that it would be hard to sail this sea, even for experienced sailors. Well, if Ohno could do it, so would Sho. He drank the soup while observing Ohno and the rest of his crew. The captain was talking seriously with Jun, beside them, Aiba was telling jokes to Nino. At first, Sho thought that Nino would be forced to work with them, but now, he realized how wrong he was.

Nino was smiling all the time, he seemed to cooperate better with Ohno’s crew compared to his cold attitude when he was at the Navy Headquarters. Sho also thought that Ohno was a coldblooded pirate with one-eye and hooked hand, along with cruel-faced crews. But, Ohno was as handsome as he remembered; his crews were all good looking and with rare abilities.

“Is the soup delicious?” Jun asked, approaching him after he finished his discussion with the captain.

“It’s super delicious,” Sho replied. “Satoshi-kun is so lucky to have a chef like you on his ship.”

Jun’s lips curved into a smile. “I’ve just punched you and now you compliment me. Are Navy official always easy to forgive?”

“I’m just telling the truth,” Sho said.

“Ohno-san has predicted that we’ll encounter some unpredictable conditions. We’re lucky that we still have some time to buy the right ingredients before your underlings covered the place.”

“Sorry for that,” Sho tried to smile, but his jaw was still stiff.

“I’ll ask Aiba to fix your jaw,” Jun said.

“No,” Sho shook his head. “I deserve it. It’ll heal soon.”

Jun gave him another slight smile and continued drinking his soup in silence. The air kept on getting colder, but the real challenge came to them three days later.

***

Sho opened his eyes as the morning came; he checked the old clock above the wooden table, it pointed to 4.30 am. The outside sky was still dark; the air had turned so much colder compared to the previous days. He looked around the room; Aiba and another three crews were still asleep. Jun, meanwhile had the night watch duty.

He slowly climbed down the mattress and walked outside; he hardly saw Jun who was talking to Ohno in low voices. They stopped as they saw Sho approaching.

“The sky is so dark,” Sho commented.

Ohno looked up to the dark sky and to their surrounding which was also pitch dark. “We’re inside the tunnel,” he mumbled.

“Tunnel? We’re in the middle of the sea, there’s no tunnel,” Sho said.

“Naraku means darkness,” Ohno mumbled. “This is the unpredicted thing that we have to encounter,” he added.

“What should we do? There’s no wind, the ship won’t move,” Jun said; he was so pale that his face glowed in the darkness.

Sho looked at Ohno and somehow, he could read what was on Ohno’s mind at the moment. Both of them could combine their power to produce wind and wave in order to escape this cold darkness, but they weren’t sure of the consequences. But this weird tunnel seemed more dangerous than any risk of using their Orion power, despite its calmness and quietness.

The rest of the crews joined them a few minutes later; Nino approached Ohno while checking the compass in his left hand.

“We have to head straight, don’t make a sudden turn or we’ll be trapped forever,” the navigator said.

“We can’t see the heading in this darkness,” Jun replied.

Sho agreed with Jun, they couldn’t navigate the ship in this situation. He was about to discuss the next plan with Ohno when strange things happened. Nino fell to the ground, all of a sudden, followed by the rest of the crews except Jun and Aiba. The latter made a quick movement to check their pulses.

“They’re not dead, they don’t have enough energy to fight this darkness,” Aiba said, exchanging looks with Ohno. “I’m afraid they can’t make it if we stay here any longer.”

“I won’t let my crew die, Aiba-kun,” Ohno said. “Get them inside, make sure of their safety.”

He once again looked at Nino’s compass and stepped towards the quarter deck, Sho was about to follow the captain when a pair of strong hands grabbed his wrist.

“Don’t let him do something stupid,” Jun said. He had turned completely pale and seemed to be having a hard time speaking – even a strong man like Jun couldn’t win against this sea. Sho guessed that it was his Orion power which kept him conscious, just like Ohno.

“I will,” Sho patted Jun’s hand. “You’d better take a rest with the other cre…”

Sho hadn’t even finished his sentence when Jun’s head hit the wooden floor, he had collapsed like the others. From the corner of his eyes, Sho could see Aiba was also down. He and Ohno were completely alone. He followed the captain to the quarter deck; where Ohno had drawn his sword. He waited for Sho to stand beside him before continuing what he was doing.

“Sho-kun, you have promised me to take care of my crew if something happens to me,” Ohno said.

“Nothing will happen to you, Satoshi-kun. I’ll make sure of it,” Sho replied, recalling their conversation a few days ago.

“You just need to assist me,” Ohno answered, ignoring what Sho said. “I’ll get this ship out of this tunnel, but I don’t know the consequences. It’s not wise if both of us do it, one of us must stay strong enough to make sure of the safety of the crew.”

“Don’t be stupid,” Sho shook his head. “We’ll do this together.”

Sho didn’t like the determination in Ohno’s eyes; he was about to draw his swords when Ohno clicked his fingers. A circle made of water locked over Sho’s wrist, causing him to lose his balance and fall down towards the hard surface. He was helpless as he watched Ohno demonstrating his power to control the waves.

At first, it went smoothly, the ship moved straight with good speed, Ohno had succeeded in controlling the silent sea around them. Sho didn’t know how far they had gone; he finally saw the faint light on the sky and the warmer wind on his face. They had left the dark tunnel behind, but before the ship reached the bright sea, Ohno’s knees hit the wooden floor as he panted hard and to Sho’s horror, the captain was bathed in blood.

The water tie around Sho’s hand loosened as Ohno collapsed; he immediately pushed himself off of the ground and ran towards Ohno. The man was still conscious and seemed in great pain.

“We made it,” he said.

“Don’t move,” Sho said, not knowing what to do. He wasn’t a doctor, Aiba was and the man was still unconscious at the moment. “You’re such a stupid selfish bastard, Satoshi,” he told Ohno. The captain grimaced, but said nothing.

What would Sho do if Ohno died at this very moment? Jun and the rest of the crew would find it suspicious, nobody saw what had happened and they would accuse Sho of murdering their captain. He pushed the negative thoughts aside; Ohno was the strongest person he had ever met, it needed more than Naraku Sea to kill him.

“Stay here, I’ll try to wake Aiba up,” he said to Ohno, gently laying him down on the wooden floor. He walked past Jun, who was still lying unconscious, towards the main cabin. He found Aiba leaning on the doorframe, in a weird position. Sho grabbed the man’s shoulder and shook him.

“Aiba-san, wake up, we need your help,” Sho said loudly, but Aiba didn’t budge. “Please, we need to save your captain!” he said it louder.

Sho now realized why Ohno’s crews were so loyal to their captain. Ohno never hesitated to sacrifice himself for them, the captain was also very proud of his underlings. Sho had never found the same thing in the Navy system. Nobody would sacrifice their ass for the others, they simply did it upon orders and duty, and not something they did from the heart.

Aiba stirred and opened his eyes slowly. He blinked a few times and pushed himself off the floor, his eyes finally finding Sho.

“What happened?” Aiba asked confusedly.

“I’ll explain later, Satoshi-kun needs your help,” Sho said, helping the man to stand up and guiding him towards the quarter deck.

Aiba stepped ahead of Sho as he realized his captain was lying on the floor. He moved quickly to check Ohno’s pulse; he wasn’t panicking, but the worry was clearly etched on his face. “We have to move him to the cabin, help me,” he said.

Sho circled his hands below Ohno’s armpits and together they carried the captain to the cabin. Sho saw that Jun had finally woken from his trance; and he hurriedly followed them without questions. They lay Ohno down on the mattress which was soon soaked with his blood; Sho and Jun watching as Aiba took care of Ohno’s wounds.

“Did you let him hurt himself the whole time without trying to stop it?” Jun asked with a cold tone. He was still pale and looked unhealthy, but his expression was as fierce as always.

Sho didn’t know how to explain; he felt that Jun would still accuse him of letting Ohno hurt himself, no matter how he tried to describe what had happened.

“If he dies, I’ll never forgive you, Admiral,” Jun said again, this time with a threatening tone.

“Calm down, Matsujun,” Aiba said while taking care of Ohno’s wounds. “Do you think I will let him die?”

“You’d better save his life, or I will murder someone today,” Jun replied, leaving the cabin while bumping Sho’s shoulder on purpose. Sho couldn’t believe that the bad tempered-Jun was the same man who gave him a bowl of soup every night with a warm smile on his lips.

“Aiba-san, is Satoshi-kun…?”

“He will survive,” Aiba said, looking at Sho, but without the usual smile on his lips. “You’d better wake the other crewmembers. Once I finished Ohno-san’s treatment, I will continue on checking you all,” he continued.

Sho nodded; he walked out of the cabin and headed for the main room where everybody was. He found Nino sitting down on the mattress while massaging his temples, he had a confused gaze, just like Aiba when he had woken up. Sho approached him, the navigator looked at him with a questioning gaze.

“Are we out of the tunnel?” he asked Sho.

“Yes, we are,” Sho replied. He sat down beside him while glancing at the compass which Nino was holding. It was the first time Sho had taken a proper look at Nino’s compass; its shape was different, it had three small different needles, each of them pointing in a different direction.

“Where did you get that compass?” Sho asked.

Nino didn’t answer; he just concentrated on the movement of the compass. His eyes narrowed; his lips mumbled something that Sho couldn’t hear.

“I have to inform the captain, we will face another dangerous area,” Nino said, rising off the mattress. He wobbled a bit, but he didn’t slow down. He was about to step outside of the cabin when Sho finally spoke.

“The captain is not in a good condition.”

Nino stopped and turned to Sho, brows rising in curiosity. “What do you mean by not in a good condition?”

Sho explained briefly about what had happened inside the dark tunnel; Nino listened to it calmly. He leaned on the doorframe of the cabin, his eyes looking up to the bright sky, which they hadn’t seen for days. Sho, meanwhile started to wake the rest of the crew up. Slowly, one by one, 3104 crew gained consciousness, all of them massaging their temples like Nino did and then slowly pushing themselves off the ground.

“Do you think he’ll survive?” Nino asked in a firm voice. Sho had seen how Nino and Ohno had developed a special closeness between themselves during the voyage, if something bad happened to Ohno, Nino would probably blame Sho for letting the captain sacrifice himself – just like Jun.

“Aiba is doing his best to save him,” Sho replied.

Nino looked down to the compass in his hand once again and moved his gaze to the vast ocean before him. “Who will lead this ship while he’s in that condition?” he asked Sho.

“I don’t know, the crew will decide,” Sho answered. Both of them were outsiders to the 3104 crew, or perhaps Sho was the only outsider if Nino had decided to join the crew based on his interest in Ohno. He had no idea how long until they reached the hidden island and what could they do without Ohno’s leadership.

Nino nodded; he then left Sho and headed towards the quarter deck to talk with Jun. Sho watched both of them; Jun seemed much calmer now, he gave understanding nods to Nino as the shorter explained the possible route they would take. Sho’s mind wandered to the Navy Headquarters; did they deploy any additional troops to search for him? What kind of rumors would spread among the navy troops that their admiral had lost to a pirate crew? Sho’s heart ached that nobody from the navy knew what exactly happened on Spiral Island. They probably wouldn’t assume that Sho was kidnapped by the 3104 pirate crew, following the abduction of the navigator, perhaps they thought that Sho had died. If the latter was the case, Sho only hoped that they pictured him dying in a heroic battle instead of being knocked out by a tiny needle with sleeping formula.

Aiba came out from the captain’s cabin a few minutes later. He asked everyone to gather on the main deck to have a general check-up. He checked Jun first whose face was still very pale; the doctor loosened Jun’s shirt buttons to measure his heartbeat. Sho saw a smooth fair skin underneath it; Jun caught his gaze and hid it quickly as soon as Aiba finished.

“Get some rest, your old syndrome has relapsed,” Aiba explained.

Jun reluctantly nodded and left the deck towards the cabin. Sho watched him until Jun closed the door behind him. Sho returned his attention to Aiba who was now checking another crew member, but his mind was still lingering on Jun. Sho had a suspicion that Jun was not just an ordinary man; he probably joined Ohno based on different reasons than the others. Among Ohno’s crew, he seemed quite upper class, someone who grew up in fine circumstances. His common knowledge was above average and he had good negotiating skills, something that no ordinary pirate would ever possess.

“Sho-san, you’re next,” Aiba said. “Take off that complicated uniform, would you?” he continued, glancing annoyingly at Sho’s uniform as if it somehow made a terrible mistake.

Sho did as he was told. He quickly took off his cloak, awarded pins, stars which indicated his position and finally the base uniform. Aiba impatiently clicked his tongue as he took more time than the rest of the crew.

“You can wear some of my clothes after this, I hate Navy uniforms, you know. They always chase us and throw grenades to kill us,” Aiba said while measuring Sho’s heartbeat.

“I’m sorry for what my underlings did to you guys, but…”

“Your duty is to keep the seas free from pirates like us,” Aiba completed his unfinished sentence. “I can list the navy’s tasks one by one, so you don’t need to explain it.”

“Where are you from?” Sho asked. “How has Satoshi-kun recruited you? Not only you, but the other crewmembers as well.”

Aiba’s lips quirked into a smile, but he had no intention of answering Sho’s question. “I will leave it to your imagination, Admiral Sakurai,” he said. “You’re in a good shape, at least we can rely on you while Matsujun is in a weak condition.”

“What happened to him?” Sho asked again. He thought Aiba wouldn’t answer, but the doctor did the opposite.

“He was infected by a rare virus on his first voyage with Ohno-san. He was almost dead when Ohno-san brought him to me, but I could only provide an antidote, I couldn’t cure him completely. The syndrome relapses once in a while, but don’t worry, he’ll be okay,” Aiba ended his explanation.

Sho looked at the closed door; he had a strong urge to go to Jun, but with Ohno’s absence and Jun’s condition, it left him no choice but to lead this ship. Aiba seemed to have no intentions of taking the temporary captain’s position, meanwhile the other crew were still trying to deal with their shock after sailing through the dark tunnel.

“Aiba-san, give me your finest clothes then,” Sho said with full determination in his voice. 

TBC

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I can't believe it's already November. The air is getting colder and the scene around me has changed.


	5. Chapter 5

Nino went inside the captain’s cabin as he finished explaining the next route to Sho. He wasn’t sure whether the route could spare them from the dangerous areas, but perhaps it could give them some time. After the dark tunnel, they would go through a flattery forest. It wasn’t a real forest since they were still on the sea, but it was an area that would seduce them until they surrender.  
He found Ohno lying on the bed, eyes closed tightly. He was wrapped with bandages all over his body; the only space left was his eyes. Nino stepped slowly towards the bed, wondering why Ohno needed to go this far to bring them to the hidden island. After knowing Ohno for the past week, he got an impression that the captain had another motive other than finding the weapon. If the weapon was really important, he would have never abducted Sho – a Navy Admiral who was clearly the enemy. There must be something behind his decision to bring Sho along, but Nino couldn’t guess what it was.

A normal pirate would have saved his own ass and wouldn’t have cared for his crew. Ohno’s sacrifice had made him admire the man even more.

Ohno hadn’t kissed him since their first kissing incident and Nino couldn’t lie to himself, he had been expecting another one from the captain. Was it another strategy to make Nino loyal to the 3104 crew? If that was the case, Ohno had been successful in making Nino feel that he belonged here.

He pulled out a chair and sat down beside the bed, locking his eyes on Ohno’s wounded face. The injuries would leave additional scars as a reminder how dangerous their adventure was, if they could survive until the end, Nino thought bitterly. If Ohno was a mere pirate, Nino would have already left him. Ohno didn’t promise him any payment nor guarantee him that they would be back to Spiral Island in one piece. But, he still decided to follow the captain and perhaps would stay as his navigator from now on. He knew that decision would prevent him from getting money as a freelance navigator, but it seemed that joining Ohno’s crew had given him something more valuable than money.

Nino wished that he could touch the captain, to feel his warmth, but Aiba had warned him that Ohno was vulnerable at the moment and needed a few days to regain his strength. At least, he survived, Nino thought. For the time being, Sho would lead their voyage; something beyond Nino’s imagination since Sho was someone from the enemy side. Nobody could guarantee that he would cooperate, what if he found a way to communicate with the navy and arrest all of the 3104 crewbefore reaching the island. If he did, Nino would make sure that he would regret it.

“We’re doing our best, captain,” he whispered to Ohno.

When he returned to the deck, Sho was giving orders to Suda and Chinen. Nino stayed on the upper deck, watching the rest of the crew as they spread the sails. Aiba climbed the stairs from the left side of the deck, giving Nino a slight smile before entering the main cabin where most of the crew slept during the night. Nino followed him inside and found Jun whose face was nearly as pale as a corpse. He was shivering badly, even though the air was warm.

“What happened?” Nino asked Aiba.

“He had a relapse,” Aiba answered briefly, helping Jun to sit down and forcing him to drink a liquid which seemed disgusting.

“No…more…” Jun said, pushing Aiba’s hand away as he finished drinking what was inside the glass.

“If you want to stay like that for the rest of the voyage, fine, I won’t give you any medicine anymore,” Aiba replied.

“Whatever,” Jun said, lying down once again and closing his eyes.

“Is he okay?” Nino asked.

“He’s okay, don’t worry,” Aiba replied, wiping the sweat on his face. “I didn’t expect him to relapse at this unfortunate timing.”

Aiba began checking the medical tools on the table one by one, making sure that they were in perfect condition. He glanced once again at Jun and fixed the blanket to cover the man’s body before returning to the table.

“You’re a good doctor, Aiba-san,” Nino commented. “Why did you decide to join Ohno-san?”

“Why do you want to know?”

Nino shrugged. “Because I want to join this crew as well and I realized that all of you came from different backgrounds. It’s normal to know where your crewmates come from, don’t you think?”

Aiba busied himself with the rest of Jun’s medicine before answering.

“I was in the navy before I joined Ohno-san,” Aiba said, looking at the cabin wall across from him with a firm expression.

“Navy?”

“Yes,” Aiba confirmed. “I was the main doctor in the headquarters, but the more I worked for them, the more I realized that they are greedy. They deceive people in the name of justice; most of the high-ranked officials are involved in corruption scandals. I was forced to work on a formula to make them undefeated, to create super humans.”

Aiba paused a while to give Nino some time to digest his story. He inhaled deeply before continuing, “Long story short, I fled from the headquarters and became an independent doctor. I met Ohno-san at Katasumi town; he was there to find a doctor to cure Jun. It took some time for me to trust him, but his devotion to his friend moved me, I couldn’t let Jun die. That was how I became one of his crew.”

Nino averted his gaze to Jun who began to talk in his sleep.

“Jun must respect Ohno-san more than anyone else,” Nino said, imagining how Ohno tried very hard to find a doctor to save him.

“He would die for the captain,” Aiba said, looking at Nino with a weak smile on his lips. “But their relationship isn’t a romantic one, don’t worry,” he added.

Nino felt something warm creep up his face; it wasn’t his place to feel jealous over Jun and Ohno’s friendship. No wonder that Jun’s devotion to Ohno was no joke. From what Nino had observed since the first time he boarded this ship; both of them trusted each other, their relationship was more than just a captain and crewmember, they were companions who needed each other’s presence. Nino had never found that kind of friendship anywhere; his world was all about making money, working for rich guys, or gambling. None of his adventures had left him with lasting friendships. Ohno’s crew were probably the first friends he had.

He would like to hear more from Jun about Ohno, once the man’s health was back to normal.

***

Ohno finally opened his eyes two days later; he couldn’t move, his body was hurt and stiff. He blinked a few times to adjust his eyes to the bright light and saw Nino’s face.

“Good morning, captain,” he said.

Ohno mumbled a reply, but all he could produce was a weird sound. He heard footsteps and familiar voices. Aiba and Sho were arguing whether they should stop the ship for a while in order to form a better strategy to face the upcoming dangers.

“Ohno-san, you’re awake,” Aiba’s cheerful voice reached his ears.

“Satoshi-kun,” Sho said with some worry.

“I’ll replace these bandages. Nino, please help me,” Aiba said, disappearing for a while to get his medical tools and returning a few minutes later.

Sho was about to approach the bed when Fukushi called him from the deck. He walked out quickly, Ohno could hear Fukushi complaining about the ship making a wrong turn because of Sho’s flawed command.

Nino gently helped Ohno to a sitting position while Aiba started to unwrap the bandages. Ohno watched the man work, feeling grateful that he had such a capable doctor. He would have died a long time ago if Aiba wasn’t here.

His wounds were healed, thanks to his Orion power and Aiba’s herbs, but his muscles were still immobile, even his voice seemed to have left him. It wasn’t his first time experiencing these kinds of fatal injuries. He had a kind of weird habit of letting himself get hurt, before Aiba joined his crew, he would lie still for days with Jun who complained all the time about how Ohno would die young.

“You have succeeded in adding more scars to your body, Ohno-san,” Aiba said while applying cream to Ohno’s joints.

Ohno could only smile at his friend; he then averted his gaze to Nino. The navigator was as handsome as ever and day by day, he had become an inseparable part of the crew. He didn’t try to control his feelings towards Nino and before he knew it, he had fallen in love with him; something he shouldn’t have done as the captain.

“How are you feeling?” Nino asked.

Ohno gave him a slight smile to indicate that he was fine.

“Sho-san tries his best to lead the voyage, but we want you back as soon as possible,” Nino said, glancing at Aiba.

“He has fought with half of the crew,” Aiba grumbled. “I’m afraid that all of them plan to murder Sho-san,” he continued.

Ohno wished he could laugh, but all he could do was smile amusingly. His crew weren’t used to a strict captain, he could imagine how they had become so stressed under Sho’s command. He wanted to ask where Jun was, but he didn’t know how to communicate with Aiba right now. Perhaps, it was reflected on his face as Aiba said, “Matsujun is getting better. He had a relapse at the same time as you collapsed.”

Ohno nodded understandingly; he was glad that everyone was safe, even though their destination was still far away.

Nino slept at his cabin that night. His voice hadn’t returned, his muscles were still stiff, but it was getting better as the time passed by. Ohno couldn’t sleep that night; his joints began to ache like hell. The last time he overused his power, he couldn’t move for two days and he guessed it would be the same this time.

Nino had explained briefly about the next possible danger they would face and it would be bad if Ohno was still in such a condition when they faced it. The crew couldn’t stand the cold inside the dark tunnel and he was afraid if the same thing happened. Aiba had warned him that if he overused his power once again, he probably couldn’t cure Ohno anymore. That meant that he needed his crew to stay conscious to face the danger together.

“Good morning, Ohno-san,” Nino greeted him as the morning came.

Ohno had finally gotten some sleep as the clock pointed to four in the morning; he glanced at the bright light outside the cabin and to Nino’s smiling face.

“Ni..no..” he tried to reply; his voice was hoarse, but it was better than producing no sound.

“I’ll get Aiba-san,” he said and disappeared through the door.

Ohno watched Nino until he couldn’t be seen; a few minutes later Aiba entered the room with a bright smile on his lips.

“You got your voice back, that’s an upgrade,” he said while examining Ohno’s heartbeat and checking every inch of his skin to make sure that his wounds were healing.

“Ai..ba..” Ohno said with so much effort. “I…want...to…go…out…”

“No,” Aiba shook his head immediately. “You stay here until I think you’re healthy enough. That’s doctor’s orders.”

Nino chuckled behind Aiba and nodded in agreement. “Your crew are having some fun with Sho-san, don’t end it too soon,” he said.

Aiba gave him a bitter grin as he heard Nino’s words. “Matsujun will take over the leadership, once he gains his strength. It’s such a nightmare to have you both absent at the same time.”

“Jun…” Ohno said.

“I’ll bring him to you,” Aiba said briefly. “His condition has improved overnight.”

Ohno smiled gratefully to Aiba and leaned his head back on the bed; his muscles weren’t as stiff as yesterday. He couldn’t wait to join the others on the deck again. Aiba left the cabin to check on Jun and asked Nino to keep an eye on him.

“He doesn’t trust you,” Nino said amusingly. He pulled his chair closer and reached for Ohno’s hand.

Ohno missed Nino’s touch; he squished the man’s hand gently and wished he could kiss the navigator’s lips at that moment. Nino seemed to read his mind as he leaned closer and touched his lips.

“You smell,” Nino said as he pulled back.

Ohno smiled at him as an answer; Nino once again shifted closer, but he stopped half way as Aiba and Jun entered the cabin. Jun was still covered in a thick coat, but his face wasn’t as pale as the last time Ohno had seen him. Nino let go of his hand and gave his chair to Jun.

“How are you, captain?” Jun asked in a hoarse voice as if he was getting a terrible ‘flu.

“Fine…” Ohno answered. “I’m…glad…you’re…okay.”

Jun gave him a weak smile. “Sorry, I had a relapse right at the wrong time.”

Ohno shook his head. If it was under normal circumstances, Jun would have scolded him to no end. He always acted like an older brother to Ohno despite that he was way younger. Their meeting was a mere coincidence, Ohno wasn’t sure that Jun would be a great companion, but the man proved him wrong.

“Your acting-captain works very hard, I presume,” Jun said, glancing at Aiba with a critical look as if telling him that it was his fault.

“I have no choice,” Aiba defended himself. “I can’t lead the voyage while both of you are on the verge of death.”

“I’m not dying,” Jun protested.

“Yes, you are,” Aiba said, looking at Ohno for support. “You two are the most difficult patients I’ve ever had.”

Nino laughed, so did Jun.

The cabin door opened and revealed Sho; he wore some of Aiba’s baggy clothes which looked weird on him. He eyed Jun first before averting his gaze to Ohno.

“Satoshi-kun, are you okay?” he asked while glancing once again at Jun.

“He’s ready to reclaim his position as the captain,” Jun answered while rising from the chair. He shivered a bit but he still managed to offer the empty chair to Sho.

“Did all of you eat properly during my absence?” Jun asked before leaving the cabin.

“We did. Stop worrying about us, your health is the priority now,” Aiba said, following his friend outside. Nino mumbled that he needed to check their course and left the cabin as well.

Sho looked at them until the door was closed and moved his sight at Ohno. He could see the changes on Sho’s face; he was full of himself when he first boarded the ship. Now, he looked like someone who had just come out from a sand storm. Ohno tried to smile at his friend to indicate that he was okay, but all he could do was a stiff grin.

“Why did you do that?” Sho asked.

Ohno had braced himself for the question. He thought that he wouldn’t make it, which was why he needed Sho to be there for his crew. He was lucky that they could get out from the dark tunnel before he ran out of energy.

“I’m…sorry…” Ohno said.

The silence fell between them. Ohno felt sorry for Sho, it must be hard for him to join this kind of reckless voyage with a crew that didn’t listen to him.

“I’m glad you’re okay,” Sho said after a long pause. He stayed in the cabin for half an hour, until Ohno fell asleep. It seemed that no words were needed between them to communicate. Ohno still trusted Sho, even though they had differing outlooks, Ohno was sure there was no way Sho would betray him.

***

The danger zone Nino had predicted was approaching. Sho was still the acting captain for the past few days, but the crew ignored his commands like always and only responded to him when he was already desperate. Jun had regained his strength and watched from afar as Sho argued with Suda about how they should spread the sails properly.

“Look, we have our own way as pirates. We don’t sail the seas like the navy and because you are on our ship, you should do it our way, not the other way around.”

Sho inhaled a deep breath, he lookedover to Jun whose lips were curving in a smile. Jun’s smile always caught Sho off guard, he couldn’t help himself from blushing every time he looked into Jun’s sharp eyes.

“Hard day, captain?” Jun said while approaching him. He had returned to his usual self, a warm-hearted Jun that Sho liked so much.

“Satoshi-kun is already healthy enough, I can’t wait to return this position to him,” Sho said desperately.

“He’s enjoying his free time with Nino,” Jun said, turning his head the captain’s cabin. “I bet he won’t take his position back that soon.”

He gave Sho an unreadable gaze which made him nervous. Sho tried hard not to gaze at Jun’s tempting lips, his imagination always went wild every time he looked at them. He could hear his rising heartbeat as Jun spoke and wondered whether Jun could hear it.

“Your face is reddening, are you okay?” Jun asked, touching Sho’s forehead with his palm.

Sho caught Jun’s hand and pulled him closer; he kissed Jun’s lips, ignoring that they were on the main deck where all the crew could see them. He had forgotten that Jun was a pirate, a person that he shouldn’t fall in love with. When he pulled back, Jun was smiling at him.

“I thought that you would have no guts to kiss me,” he said.

“Sorry,” Sho released Jun and buried his face into his palms. “I shouldn’t…”

“It can’t be helped,” Jun said while placing his hand on Sho’s shoulder; this time, he was the one who pulled Sho in for another kiss. Jun’s lips were soft, warm, and tasted of orange. The kiss was enough to make Sho forget that they were in the middle of the most dangerous voyage; it was enough to make him grateful for joining Ohno’s crew.

“Err-, mind if I interrupt?”

Sho quickly drew away from Jun and tried to make a plain face when he turned to Nino whose expression was very amused.

“I just want to inform you that we’re expecting bad weather ahead,” Nino said.

“Okay,” Sho replied, trying hard to push Jun’s alluring lips from his head. “When will Satoshi-kun return?”

“You can ask his doctor,” Nino replied.

Sho watched Nino as he disappeared towards the back of the ship; he showed a cold attitude to Sho since he became temporary captain, despite it being against his will. He looked around and realized that Jun wasn’t there anymore. He touched his lips with the tips of his fingers, it had been so long since he had kissed someone, and he had almost forgotten how it felt like.

Jun didn’t come close to him for the rest of the day; and he chose to sit down at the end of the dining table when they had a big dinner together with all of the crew that night. It was the first time for Ohno to join dinner since the dark tunnel incident. The crew welcomed him warmly and said blatantly that they couldn’t wait for him to lead the voyage again. Chinen even openly complained that Sho’s leadership was too self-centered and he didn’t trust the crew enough. Ohno only smiled as he heard what his crew said; he gave Sho a meaningful gaze as if telling him that they didn’t mean it.

“Sho-kun, I’ll take the leadership back tomorrow if you don’t mind,” Ohno said. Both of them watched the darkened sky, it seemed that the predicted storm would come soon.

“It’s your ship, all decisions are on you,” Sho answered.

Ohno smile weakly, “Thanks for everything, you saved my crew.”

“I didn’t do anything,” Sho shook his head. “Commanding this ship is much more difficult than leading all the navy troops.”

“You must be kidding me,” Ohno replied. “Many people admire you, I saw your posters everywhere. They consider you as the new hero who will bring justice to them.”

“It’s embarrassing,” Sho said. He recalled how Higashiyama wanted to make him an icon of the navy. He was the youngest Admiral, he had a handsome figure and he was the bearer of an Orion Power, there was no other person to fit that iconic description. But he thought it was a stupid way to win the sympathyof the people; what they really needed was the guarantee of their safety, not some pretty posters with empty words.

“Maybe that’s why Jun has an eye on you,” Ohno said.

“Did Nino tell you?” Sho asked, feeling awkward all of a sudden; he felt like he was facing Jun’s over-protective guardian right now.

Ohno nodded, “Jun never trusts people,” he continued, looking at the dark sea ahead of them. “I’m one of the few people he can trust. He must have been struggling inside, because you’re a Navy Admiral and someone he barely knows.”

Sho needed some time to digest Ohno’s words. It made sense; Jun clearly hated the navy and everything related to it. From what he observed, Ohno was the only one he never argued with. Despite his warm smile and kind-hearted attitude, he never really trusted anyone – except for Ohno.

“I was just…it was an accident,” Sho said. “I won’t do it again.”

“I’m not telling you to back off,” Ohno replied. “I have no right to do that, but I need to warn you that Jun can become really evil when he hates someone.”

“I’ll be careful,” Sho said.

“Good,” Ohno patted his shoulder. “Now, let’s get ready for the storm.”

TBC

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> two chapters to go :)


	6. Chapter 6

The storm came upon midnight, the high waves along with strong wind swung the ship so badly. All of the crew worked hard to keep the ship afloat, challenging the nature, which could take their life at anytime. Nino had never experienced this kind of horrible storm in his entire life, he held onto the pillar tightly to prevent himself from being smashed against the wall.

He watched the rest of the crew from the glass window of the main cabin. They followed Ohno’s orders and worked efficiently as if the storm was just a little bad weather. Nino stayed inside the cabin, just like Jun told him, he had a headache and nausea due to the nonstop swinging. The storm seemed to go on forever; Naraku sea seemed to want to send them to the bottom of the sea.

Nino had no energy left, he wasn’t trained for this, the muscles on his arms protested as he couldn’t hold the pillar any longer. He let go of the pillar and a second later he was slammed into a solid surface as another wave hit the ship. Nino tried to stand up, but he wobbled and once again fell to the floor. And then, a miracle happened. The storm stopped all of a sudden; the wave, wind, rain and clouds were gone. Nino winced as the bright sunlight abruptly hit his eyes through the windows. He narrowed his eyes and crawled towards the exit, but before he could reach it, a pair of hands caught his neck and slammed him to the floor. Nino looked at the owner of those strong hands, it was Jun, but there was something wrong with his face. Jun’s eyes were blank, as if he was controlled by something invisible.

“Let…go,” Nino struggled, but Jun was way stronger than him.

Jun fastened his hands around Nino’s neck, blocking the oxygen supply to Nino’s lungs. He helplessly tried to push Jun away, but the remaining energy had left him. Nino closed his eyes, he couldn’t do anything, and he was going to die.

“Jun, let him go!”

Somebody pulled Jun away from Nino; he suddenly could breathe again. Coughing, he saw Ohno and Aiba with swords in their hands, trying to knock Jun down. Nino rolled aside, spacing out his breaths. He quickly drew the compass from his pocket, they had reached the Flattery Forest and what happened to Jun was probably the influence of the mysterious energy in this zone.

Aiba injected something to Jun’s upper arm, the man stopped moving and lost consciousness. Aiba gently lay him down on the wet floor and exchanged looks with Ohno, asking for a command. The captain inserted his sword into its scabbard and looked at Jun’s face with a strange expression.

“His emotions are perhaps instable,” Nino said, pushing himself off the floor. His body was hurting everywhere; there were bruises on his arms and legs. “We’ve reached the Flattery Forest, it will try to mislead us by screwing up our minds and hearts.”

“Right after we’re out from the storm,” Ohno mumbled a reply. “Aiba-kun, keep an eye on Jun. I’ll inform the other crew about our current condition.”

Aiba nodded; his expression was dark, perhaps the forest had affected him as well. Nino felt an unpleasant vibe all of a sudden, memories from the past that he had forgotten unexpectedly popped up in the back of his head, no matter how hard he tried to block them.

“Nino, are you okay?” Aiba asked him, but his voice seemed too far away. It didn’t reach him well; the ship and the sea in front of him had gone, replaced by a small room with iron bars, where he could see outside clearly.

The unpleasant mixed scent reached Nino’s nose; the loud voices of adult men could be heard everywhere. He was in a stinky room with the other kids, all of them were dirty and smelly. Nino knew when it was, he had returned magically to 25 years ago. It was his first memory, something he had tried very hard to forget.

“How much do you sell him for?” a middle-aged man pointed at the five-year-old Nino.

Nino was the smallest and the weakest compared to the other children in that room. He didn’t know how he ended up there, he didn’t know where his parents were or where he came from.

The man in front of the room mentioned the price, the buyer seemed to agree and Nino found himself dragged away from the bars a few minutes later. The hands which gripped his wrist were strong and rough, it hurt Nino, but the man seemed not to care.

“If you cry, I’ll cut your throat,” the middle-aged man said while showing Nino a big knife which hung on his waist.

The man brought Nino towards the harbor, to a huge ship. They sailed for a few days to an unknown place, at least from Nino’s perspective. He was left hungry and cold for the rest of the voyage, but he couldn’t cry or his throat would be cut. He was abused by the drunken sailors and was beaten hard when he accidentally vomited on top of the captain’s shoes.

When they reached the island, the man handed Nino to a fierce looking lady. She looked at him with a disgusting gaze and dragged him towards the village without any words. Nino and the other fifteen kids were gathered in one room and were prepared to become slaves for the royal family in the city.

“Nino! Get a hold on yourself!”

“Aiba! Do something!”

“I can’t, his condition is different from Matsujun.”

“Nino, it’s okay, you’re with us. Nobody is going to hurt you.”

Nino tried hard to pull himself from the memories of his past; the one in front of him was Ohno, not the fierce lady, his surrounding was the sea instead of a stinky room. Ohno held both of his hands to prevent Nino from hurting himself. He breathed hard, the flash of the memories seemed very real, for a moment, Nino thought that he was really in that village again.

“Nino, are you with us?” Ohno’s soft voice reached his ears.

“Don’t take me back to that island,” he whispered.

“What island?”

Nino didn’t answer, he gripped the collar of Ohno’s cloak and buried his face onto the captain’s chest. He had been trying very hard to forget those particular memories, he didn’t want to live with that horrible past.

“Don’t sell me to them…”

“Nobody’s going to do that, you’re our precious navigator,” Ohno said, patting his back gently.

Ohno helped him to stand and supported him as they walked inside the cabin. From the corner of his eyes, Nino could see Jun, he was still unconscious from Aiba’s medicine. Ohno still held him and whispered comforting words; Nino’s body trembled as he tried to prevent his tears from falling. He was not allowed to cry or he would be killed.

“You’re safe with us. I’ll protect you,” Ohno said.

Nino finally let his tears fall, he sobbed into Ohno’s neck, he was safe, he could cry all he wanted. He was not a five-year-old kid anymore, he was freed from the slavery and now he was joining the greatest pirate in the most unbelievable voyage. Nobody would hurt him.

“What happened?” Ohno asked after Nino was calm enough.

“I…saw my past,” Nino said, biting his lower lip.

Ohno ran his fingers through Nino’s hair and waited for him to speak more. He looked into the captain’s eyes; Ohno perhaps was the first man Nino could trust. He never spoke of his past to anyone; it wasn’t that impressive either, even though it still bothered Nino from time to time. And now, when they were cruising the mysterious sea, the buried past had come to surface again, reminding Nino that he could never run from it.

He told Ohno with trembling voice that he was a slave in Yozora Kingdom before the great rebellion. He and the other slaves made an escape with a small boat and was saved by a historian. Since then, Nino had lived with the man and learned about navigation, and he began working as a freelance navigator from sixteen up until now.

“I get temporary protection from my customers and when I’m not working, I spend my days at Niji Island. Nobody can hurt me there,” Nino ended his story with a sob.

“I’m sorry,” Ohno said softly. “For not finding you earlier.”

Nino smiled weakly and shook his head. Their encounter was purely coincidence and perhaps the night Ohno abducted him from the Navy Headquarters was the first time that Nino finally got his freedom.

“Are the other crew okay?” he asked.

“Some of them are like you,” Ohno answered. “Sho-kun is there to prevent them from doing something stupid,” he added.

“Jun must have seen something horrible in his mind,” Nino mumbled.

“Jun’s past was no better than you…” Ohno said with bitter tone.

***

It was five years ago when Ohno met Jun for the first time on Thousand Star Island – the richest region in Maboroshi sea. Ohno got himself into trouble with one of the silk traders at one of the biggest markets on that island (he was always getting himself into trouble anyway) when he had tried to help a little thief escape. The city police came immediately and arrested him. Ohno could have fought back, but he let himself get caught on purpose.

He was brought into the city custody with the threat that he would be executed on the following day for assisting a thief. Ohno only shrugged uninterested when he heard that; he had received uncountable death threats since his first voyage and none of them worked, so there would be no exception for this one. They imprisoned him in the underground jail with no light or window – typical, Ohno thought. He had been imprisoned so many times before this and it had become like a tour for him, he had nothing to complain about.

He sighed deeply, “Kill me if you can,” he mumbled to himself.

“Don’t underestimate them,” a voice from the corner of the prison told him.

Ohno was taken aback, he didn’t expect that he would find someone else in that smelly jail.

“They look stupid enough to me,” Ohno replied, trying to find the owner of the voice. It was dark in there and his eyes hadn’t adjusted to the darkness.

“If they’re stupid, I have already left this place,” the same deep voice answered.

“I’m Ohno Satoshi, what’s your name?” Ohno asked cheerfully.

The man finally moved from his place on the corner; he held a small knife in his right hand and pointed it at Ohno.

“I have no intention to make friends with a stranger,” he said.

Ohno saw a man with messy hair and pale skin; it appeared that he had spent some time here in the darkness. The man was taller than him; from the way he looked, Ohno could guess that the man wasn’t just an ordinary one. His clothes seemed expensive, even though they were dirty and torn everywhere.

“Easy,” Ohno glanced at the knife. “I’m not here to fight. I can help you to get out from this stinky place if you cooperate.”

“As if you can,” the man clicked his tongue.

“Why did you end up here?” Ohno asked when the man lowered his knife and sat down while crossing his arms over his chest.

“It’s none of your business, Ohno Satoshi,” the man said coldly.

Ohno was impressed that the man could remember his full name despite of his ignorance, “I’m a pirate and now I’m still looking for crew. If you’re interested, you can join me.”

The man took a deep breath, “There’s no way a noble like me would become a filthy pirate. I would rather die.”

“So, you’re a noble,” Ohno took a proper look at the man. “What are you doing here if you’re a noble?”

“That’s…” the man hesitated.

“Well, it’s okay if you don’t want to tell me. Now, let’s get out of here,” Ohno said, producing the key from the water he found in the corner of the prison. He inserted it into the lock and it clicked open.

“Orion power,” the man whispered. “How did you…?”

“Come,” he grabbed the man’s hand and led the way outside. He lazily produced some bullets and shot them towards the guards. “It didn’t kill them, don’t worry,” he said to the man when Ohno saw his expression.

The man freed his wrist from Ohno’s grip when they were safe under a big tree outside of the city zone.

“T..thanks,” the man said between his breaths. “I’m Jun.”

“Jun, you’re my first crew,” Ohno said without hesitation.

“Wait, I didn’t say that I wanted to be your crew.”

Later, Ohno found out that Jun was imprisoned because he was good at cooking instead of fighting. All of his siblings were prepared to become warriors, except for him. He was jailed in order to keep the honor of his family who had become warriors for generations on Thousand Star Island. Jun was considered a failure.

For two years, both of them sailed the seas with their little ship. In their third year, they met Aiba when Jun was on the verge of death from some weird symptoms. Aiba saved Jun’s life and decided to become part of Ohno’s crew. He handed Ohno his savings; the money he had been collecting since he became the main doctor for the navy. They combined it with the money Ohno stole from the government and bought a ship from the best maker. Ever since, they went by the name 3104.

***

Nino listened to Ohno’s story without interruption. Perhaps, Jun’s childhood traumatized him; everyone forced him to become a warrior when he didn’t want to. Maybe, that particular memory drove him mad which made him lose control of himself when he strangled Nino. He felt sorry for the man; if Ohno didn’t find him by coincidence that night, perhaps Jun would have already committed suicide in that dark prison. 

Whether Ohno didn’t have any dark past or his mentality was too strong, the Flattery Forest didn’t seem to affect him at all. He checked on his crew, giving them motivation when they were haunted by their failures. By the time they passed the zone, everyone was exhausted from their psychological problems, except for Ohno. Even Sho, who was okay for the first half of the journey, started to show his frustration for the rest of the voyage.

Ohno controlled the ship’s steering after making sure that all of his crew were okay. Nino was still shaken, but he accompanied his captain. He looked at the blue sky above them; it was so bright, yet it couldn’t boost his mood.

“We’ll get out of here soon,” Nino said, glancing at his compass.

“We can make it,” Ohno replied, flashing an encouraging smile to Nino.

Nino nodded; the gloomy feelings inside his chest still remained, but Ohno’s presence had given him strength to fight against it.

The rest of the crew joined them when the sky turned dark. Their faces showed desperation, particularly Jun. Sho supported him walking towards the main deck; Jun greeted Ohno and apologized for his weak mental state, but the captain waved it off.

“Everyone is okay, that’s the point,” Ohno said, patting Jun’s shoulder.

“Guys,” Nino pointed to his compass. “I’ve found the hidden island.”

All eyes were on him now, Nino showed the compass to Ohno; the captain slid out the map from his pocket and opened it. The hidden island wasn’t written on any map, but if they sailed across Naraku Sea, the island would show itself.

“It’s the sign of land,” Nino said, pointing at one of the compass needles. “We’ll be arriving soon.”

Ohno exchanged looks with all of his crew, his face turned bright. “We made it!”

Everyone smiled, despite their desperation. They made it to the hidden island, but Nino had no idea what they would do next. What kind of weapon they would find there and what they would do about it. The Navy’s plan was to bring the weapon to their headquarters and use it to upgrade their defense strategy. He hadn’t heard any plans from Ohno regarding what they would do about it. Ohno had vaguely mentioned that he wanted the weapon to rule the sea, but Nino had a hunch that this wasn’t his real intention.

“Thanks to your navigation skill,” Ohno said to Nino when all of the crew went to their respective station.

“Thanks to the greatest captain,” Nino replied, smiling at Ohno.

The man took Nino’s hand and pulled him into a tight hug.

“Ohchan, that hurts,” Nino said, but Ohno didn’t loosen his embrace. It seemed that Ohno wanted to tell him something, but he only hugged Nino for a long while.

***

The hidden island was surprisingly small; it was almost like a rock instead of an island. They reached it at dawn. Ohno divided the groups into two to explore this tiny place. Jun, Aiba, Kamenashi, Fukushi and Suda would go to the left side, meanwhile Ohno, Nino, Sho and Chinen in the opposite direction.

“Inform us immediately when you find something dangerous,” Ohno said to Jun.

“You too,” he answered. “Let’s go,” he said to the rest of his team.

Ohno led the way to the right path; he drew his sword and told Sho and Chinen to do the same. Nino meanwhile positioned himself between Ohno and Sho since he couldn’t fight.

“Satoshi,” Sho called. “I disagree with your plan about the weapon.”

Nino listened; so Ohno had talked about it with Sho.

“Keeping it will create an uproar,” Ohno replied, facing Sho. “If you want to bring peace, you shouldn’t keep a weapon.”

“The navy already decided…”

“Sho, you’re one of the highest rank officials in the navy, you should have convinced them that destroying the weapon is the best way,” Ohno said with a fierce tone that Nino had never heard before. “Don’t forget our deal. I’m sure the navy will be happier with that.”

“What deal?” Nino tried to ask, but none of them replied to him.

“How will you do it?” Sho asked.

“Destroying the weapon?” Ohno queried.

Sho nodded slightly.

“Both of us can do it,” he answered.

“How many times did I tell you that this is stupid?” Sho said through gritted teeth.

“My decision is final, Sho-kun,” Ohno said firmly. “If you don’t agree, I won’t hesitate to kill you.”

Nino was taken aback when he heard the threatening words from Ohno; the captain’s image was far from being hostile, somehow, the commanding tone on Ohno’s voice brought a chill to Nino’s stomach.

“Er-, I think I saw a strange light,” Nino said to both of them. He pointed to the far south where the blue light came from.

Ohno and Sho stepped ahead of Nino and Chinen, with swords ready in their hands.

“You two, stay there!” Ohno commanded.

Nino and Chinen stopped and watched the two men walking towards the source of the light. Ohno and Sho couldn’t be seen anymore as they headed deeper into the forest. Nino leaned on the big tree behind him, meanwhile Chinen gave the code to the other crew that they found something.

It didn’t take a long time for Jun’s team to reach them. Chinen explained briefly about what happened and all of them waited there. Jun walked back and forth in anxiousness, he mumbled something about Ohno that Nino couldn’t clearly hear. Nino crossed his fingers, hoping for luck, he couldn’t afford to see Ohno lying helplessly on the bed anymore.

“I’ll go there to check on them,” Jun said after a few minutes.

“I’ll go with you,” Aiba said.

“Me too,” Nino approached them.

“No,” Jun shook his head. “You stay here, it might be dangerous.”

“But…”

“Nino, if you’re hurt, none of us can navigate the ship, stay here for our sake,” Aiba said with a soft tone.

Nino and the rest of the crew watched Jun and Aiba as they departed in the direction of the light. None of them talked to each other, drowning in their own thoughts. Nino squished his fingers; he recalled when Ohno hugged him, it felt like a good bye. What if Ohno died? What if Sho died?

If the latter died, perhaps the navy would arrest them all on murder charges for a navy admiral – what a great crime – Nino thought sourly. He never loved someone before, his life was all about finding a way to survive, but when he met Ohno, everything had changed. Ohno had given him a purpose, Ohno had shown him how to live life, Ohno had shown him that he was needed and for the first time, Nino had finally made some friends.

He couldn’t afford Ohno dying.

They heard a blast from the direction where the group went. Something bright light up the dawn and everything went quiet afterwards, even the wind stopped blowing. Nino looked up to the sky and bit his lower lip. Was everything okay? Were Sho and Ohno finally able to destroy the weapon?

They waited for some time until they saw the silhouettes approaching. Nino ran closer to them and saw Aiba was supporting Ohno meanwhile Jun was helping Sho. He appeared on Ohno’s other side to help Aiba.

“They’re only exhausted, nothing serious,” Aiba said.

“Sorry, Aiba-kun,” Ohno mumbled a reply.

“We need to camp here overnight,” Jun said to the rest of the crew.

All of them nodded understandingly and returned to the ship to retrieve the camping equipment. Nino and Aiba sat Ohno down on the ground; the captain’s body was wet from sweat, he looked dehydrated and fatigued.

Nino stayed beside him all the time; he watched Aiba examining both Ohno and Sho. He told them to take a nap to regain their strength and asked Nino to look after them.

He was glad that nothing serious had happened to both of them; with this, they could head back to Spiral Island without problem. He had calculated the new route in order to avoid the Flattery Forest and the dark tunnel; he presumed that none of them would complain about the longer route as long as it was safe.

“What happened there?” Nino asked Jun when the man joined him sitting down on the clearing beside Sho.

“The legendary weapon was a lump of energy that we’ve never seen before. It seemed to develop over time and would get bigger if we left it like that. The size was still destroyable, Ohno-san and Sho-kun managed to terminate it with their Orion power.”

“It will be bad news for the navy, they planned to bring that thing to their headquarters,” Nino replied.

“Nobody can do that,” Jun shook his head. “It’s too risky.”

“Who do you think made that weapon?” Nino asked.

Jun thought for a while. “My guess was a crazy researcher whose research was forbidden. Maybe they found a way to reach this island and placed the weapon here years ago.”

“Why did they do that?”

“Some people do crazy things,” Jun mumbled.

“Jun.”

“Mmm?”

Nino really wanted to tell Jun about the unknown deal Ohno had made with Sho, but he didn’t know where to start. Like Nino, Jun would be very sad if something happened to Ohno.

“No, nothing,” Nino averted his gaze to the trees around them.

He could only hope that everything would be okay and they leave the Naraku sea zone as soon as possible.

TBC


	7. Chapter 7

The way back towards Spiral Island was unbelievably smooth. The crew celebrated their accomplished mission with drinking sessions and Jun’s cooking. Ohno watched them singing random songs from afar while enjoying a bottle of wine. He couldn’t believe that they had made it without serious casualties, none of his crew was hurt, the weapon was destroyed and the perfect weather accompanied them for the rest of the voyage.

He saw Jun and Sho standing side by side on the quarter deck, talking. Perhaps they were saying good bye to each other because Sho must return to the Navy Headquarters and would once again become their enemy. The thoughts sent a prickle to Ohno’s stomach, if only Jun was still a noble and had never joined him as a pirate, maybe he and Sho could be a happy couple.

“We’ll be reaching Kanna Sea soon,” Nino said while approaching him.

Ohno smiled at the man and handed him the wine bottle. “Do you want some?”

Nino took it, he drank the wine and returned the bottle to Ohno.

“What will you do from now on?” Ohno asked the navigator.

“What do you mean?” Nino raised his brows.

“I can’t pay you with the acceptable price, we have no money left,” Ohno said.

Nino chuckled as he heard it. He looked up to the bright sky, “I don’t need your money. Your adventure seems more interesting, do you mind if I become part of your crew?”

Ohno didn’t answer immediately; he drank the wine, feeling the warmth of the alcohol down from his throat to his stomach.

“It’s an honor to have you as our crew,” Ohno said.

Nino gave him a cute smile and leaned closer to kiss Ohno’s cheek. Ohno caught him into a hug; Nino’s warmth affected him more than any liquor he had consumed. He closed his eyes, he couldn’t promise anything to Nino. He remembered his secret deal with Sho and he knew it would take him apart from Nino and the rest of the crew.

He kissed Nino’s lips as if there was no tomorrow; he never felt this way before towards someone else and instead of feeling happy, he was sad. He put his hand on the back of Nino’s neck and pulled him closer; their body pressed to each other, their breaths united in a rhythm.

They made love in Ohno’s cabin that night. Nino’s body was beautiful and Ohno couldn’t get enough of him. He watched Nino’s sleeping face after the blissful sex and he wished he could do it every day. It was the first time for Ohno to wish that he was just an ordinary man; a commoner who could live peacefully in a faraway village. He wished he could live longer just to enjoy a peaceful Sunday with Nino by his side.

“I’m sorry, Nino,” he whispered, landing a kiss on Nino’s forehead. He slowly freed himself from the navigator, put on his clothes and went outside. The southern stars were beautiful on the night sky, the soft breeze blew on his skin, and the scent of the sea hit his nose. He wouldn’t be able to enjoy it as soon after they reached Spiral Island. He had to fulfill the deal he made with Sho in exchange for the freedom of his crew as well as his last wish.

***

Jun slept soundly in Sho’s arms; they were actually doing the night watch but eventually dozed off. The air outside was comfortably warm with a soft breeze in between. Sho heard footsteps from the captain’s cabin and saw Ohno go out. The captain was looking at the night sky with a gloomy face and somehow, Sho knew what was he thinking about.

He slowly moved Jun’s head to the bundle of clothes they used as pillow and approached Ohno.

“What a perfect night,” Sho said.

Ohno turned at him and then returned his gaze to the thousand stars above.

“Are you worried?” Sho asked the captain.

“No,” Ohno answered. “My crew can go on without me.”

“Satoshi,” Sho patted the man’s shoulder. “We can think of another way.”

Ohno heaved a deep sigh, “Since when can a Navy Admiral feel sympathy towards a pirate?”

“You’re my friend,” Sho replied.

Ohno didn’t answer; silence blanketed them for a long time. Sho knew that nobody could change Ohno’s mind; even though his decision would leave everyone in a devastating mode, once they knew the truth. When Ohno told Sho for the first time about the man’s true intention, he couldn’t accept it – both as a friend and as an Admiral. 

“Keep your promise, will you?” Ohno said.

“I will,” Sho mumbled.

It was hard for him as well. He had been trying to arrest the pirates for all his career, but when he joined Ohno’s voyage, his opinion about pirates had changed. On top of that, he had fallen for one of them. He didn’t know whether he and Jun could meet again; even if they had another encounter, it would never be the same again. The thoughts sent an ache to his chest; half of him wanted to throw away everything just to be with Jun.

They reached Spiral Island in the middle of the night. The harbor was still covered by many people, none of them paid attention to Sho since he dressed like a commoner. He and the rest of Ohno’s crew went to the bar to celebrate their successful mission. Sho only drank a glass of whiskey and went to the far corner with Jun to say good bye.

Jun was better in handling his emotions compared to Sho. He jokingly said that Sho should quit being in the navy and join Ohno’s crew instead.

“I’ll never forget you, Sho-kun,’ Jun said calmly. “I never imagined that a Navy Admiral would have fallen in love with me.”

Sho chuckled dryly, he held Jun’s hand in his fist tightly, he didn’t want to let go.

“I’ll come find you again.”

Jun smiled. He leaned closer to kiss Sho good bye, his lips were warm against his. It felt like an ironic dream for Sho to find someone he loved in a pirate crew. He wished he could kiss Jun forever, but they had to leave before the Navy troops arrived on the island.

Sho had reported to headquarters as soon as he reached Spiral Island. He had explained in details of what was happening. Higashiyama was furious at first, but then he agreed with Sho that destroying the weapon was the best way to avoid a bigger uproar. Sho also described the deal he made with Ohno as the captain of 3104 crew. Higashiyama unexpectedly agreed with it and told Sho to coordinate with his underlings and the officials in charge for that.

“Good bye, Sho-kun,” Jun said, turning around as the crew readied to leave.

One by one they waved good bye to Sho and it left a turmoil inside his chest. The memories he had with them flashed in the back of his mind and somehow, it left a deeper impression more than what he had during his whole voyage with the Navy troops.

The sail of 3104 ship was spread widely, he could hear Nino’s voice as he gave the directions to the other crew. When the ship began to move further, a man finally appeared behind Sho.

“I’m your prisoner now.”

Sho turned around and saw Ohno’s face. The captain watched his ship sail away with an unreadable expression. It must be hard for him to leave his crew without a proper goodbye since Ohno didn’t tell anyone about what he agreed with Sho.

On their first voyage, he told Sho that he would surrender himself to the Navy as the mission was accomplished. But he requested the safety of his crew, and the assurance that the navy would never chase them again. The captain had left letters to his crew, asking them not to come for him and continue their voyage without him.

The Navy troops came an hour later along with a medical team. They gave Sho a general checkup, but none of them did it as good as Aiba, Sho thought bitterly.

Ohno was placed in special bars with anti-Orion power. He was handcuffed heavily and was guarded by five troops. Sho couldn’t see his friend in that state; he left towards the tent which was built for him. Ueda and the other captains were there, ready to report.

Sho listened to them with no interest at all. He felt that he had done a disgusting betrayal to Jun and the rest of 3104 crew. He shouldn’t have agreed with Ohno’s offer, he should have given another option to the captain. He could imagine how Ohno’s crew would react to the absence of their beloved captain from their ship.

“Sakurai-san, we would like to hear your opinion about the latest development in the northern region,” Ueda said.

Sho looked at his underling with a confused look, “Sorry, what did you say?”

Ueda replied what he had said, but Sho didn’t understand what he referred to. He had just come back from a dangerous voyage, they should let him take some rest before handing him countless reports.

“Give me some time,” Sho said, massaging his nose bridge. “You can leave.”

One by one left the tent, Ueda was the last.

“The immediate command from Higashiyama-san has come. He wants us to execute Ohno Satoshi as soon as possible,” the man said.

Sho nodded; he had already anticipated it. The news about Ohno’s arrest had spread to the entire Navy headquarters. They welcomed the news with great excitement; regardless that Ohno’s crew were the ones who sailed across Naraku sea to destroy the legendary weapon. The unfairness stabbed Sho’s heart like a thousand needles; he was there with Ohno, witnessing how the captain sacrificed himself for his crew, watching how Ohno led his crew with much better leadership skill in comparison to the whole navy. He recalled Jun’s words about Ohno, that he was the greatest captain of all time, that he could be the pirate king if he wanted to.

Sho couldn’t agree more to that.

***

Sho and the rest of the navy troops returned to the headquarters on the following day. He commanded his underlings to move Ohno onto his ship.

“He’s the bearer of Orion-power, it’ll be safer if I can keep an eye on him,” Sho said before they asked him any unnecessary questions.

Ohno’s hands were still handcuffed; there was a trace of blood on his lips, some part of his face was dark and swollen. Sho gritted his teeth in anger; his underlings must have beaten Ohno to unleash their hatred towards the pirates.

“I didn’t command you to beat him,” he said with shaking voice.

“But I did,” a voice was heard.

Ikuta Toma, the head officer for high-ranked-prisoners approached him with a light smile on his lips. His position was far below Sho, but they were not in one commanding line, so Sho couldn’t give him any commands or prohibitions.

“I didn’t know you werehere,” Sho said.

“You’re too busy to notice my presence, Sakurai-san,” Toma answered. “What do you want to do with my prisoner?” he asked, glancing at Ohno.

“He’s still mine until we reach the headquarters,” Sho said.

“We haven’t heard anything about your adventure on his ship,” Toma gestured to Ohno with his hand. “He didn’t answer our questions, so we were forced to be violent, I want to hear from the Admiral himself about the adventure he had with a group of pirates.”

“I have no obligation to report that adventure to you,” Sho hissed. “Now, if you excuse us.”

Sho gave a command to Ueda to bring Ohno into his personal cabin. He could feel Toma’s stare on his back as he entered.

“Leave him to me,” Sho said to Ueda. “You can lead the voyage. I still have many documents to work on.”

“Yes, Sir,” Ueda saluted, freeing Ohno and walking out of the cabin.

Sho locked the door and turned to Ohno. “Are you okay?”

Ohno gave him a weak nod.

“I don’t have the key for the handcuffs,” Sho said, glancing to Ohno’s darkened wrists. “I bet they’re sucking the power off you. Come, I’ll treat your wounds.”

“It’s fine,” Ohno said while sitting down on one of the chairs. He looked tired for the first time; perhaps the handcuffs affected him already. “You’ll execute me anyway,” he added.

“Do you think I’ll just sit down and do nothing?!” Sho raised his voice in frustration. “This is stupid, Satoshi.”

Ohno didn’t answer, he looked down to his shoes; the scene broke Sho’s heart. He didn’t want his friend to end up on the gallows.

“I can’t let you die,” Sho sobbed.

“It’s your duty to catch a bad guy like me. This is your highest achievement as a Navy Admiral.”

“Stupid,” Sho murmured. He glanced to Ohno’s swollen face while running his fingers through his hair.

He took the first aid box from his desk and cleaned Ohno’s wound, ignoring the protests from the man. It reminded him of his childhood era; Ohno always hurt himself in the weirdest way possible. He was also a hero who saved their classmates from danger; he always the one who sacrificed himself for others. Something that Sho never did as a person and as a Navy Admiral.

He applied alcohol to the cotton and gently tapped Ohno’s injured lips.

“I’m not a doctor like Aiba-san, this is the best I can do.”

Ohno chuckled slightly. He thanked Sho as he finished. They ended up talking about their past along the voyage. How they got their Orion power or how Ohno decided on becoming a pirate. The man also told Sho there was a time when he almost joined the navy but changed his mind half way when he knew that the navy was just like the government; corrupt and selfish.

“You can bring a change to the navy, Sho-kun. Once you become a Fleet Admiral, you can change it in a better direction.”

Sho smiled as he heard that. “A normal person would try to persuade me to free himself from the execution, meanwhile you encourage me to become a Fleet Admiral.”

“I’m prepared for this day,” Ohno mumbled.

“You can’t leave your crew like this,” Sho said.

But Ohno’s reply silenced him all of a sudden. He couldn’t believe what he heard; Ohno must have told him a lie.

***

Nino pointed to their new destination on the map he was holding and showed it to Suda. They had spread the sails and sailed away from Spiral Island. He wished he could stay longer to get some supplies, but Sho didn’t want the Navy to spot them or there would be an unnecessary uproar. He saw Jun at the quarter deck, looking at the island with a lonely expression. The separation from Sho must have affected him.

“Good weather,” Nino said while walking towards the man.

“Yeah,” Jun replied, inhaling a deep breath.

“Have you informed the captain about our heading?” Jun asked.

“Not yet, he’s still in his cabin,” Nino answered. It was unusual for Ohno to stay in his cabin while the ship was departing. He told Nino that he could freely decide where they would go from now on. His smile was edgy before they began their voyage, something that Nino had never seen from the man.

“I’ll get him,” Nino said, leaving Jun and heading towards Ohno’s cabin. The place where they made love, the place where Ohno kissed him for the first time. “Ohno-san, we’re ready to…”

The cabin was empty; Nino searched in every corner, wondering whether Ohno was teasing him, but the captain was nowhere to be found. He approached Ohno’s desk and saw three envelopes; he took the one with his name on it and somehow, he already knew what he was going to find, but it didn’t prevent him from shock.

Dear Nino,

Meeting you is the best thing ever happened to me. I wish I met you earlier so we could travel the seas together for a longer time. It’s sad that I have no chance to know you better, but I would never forget our precious time.

Jun will be your captain from today onwards, guide him to the best places and assist him to become the pirate king. This ship is so lucky to have you as the navigator. Be careful with storms and take care,

Good bye

Satoshi

Nino breathed hard as he finished reading the short letter Ohno had left. He wanted to run and scream, but his body wouldn’t move. He couldn’t accept it; Ohno showed no signs of leaving the crew, but then the realization hit him all of a sudden.

Was it Ohno’s deal with Sho?

He couldn’t prevent the tears from falling down; he knelt down and held the letter close to his chest.

“Nino, what happened?” Jun stormed inside and approached him.

Nino couldn’t answer, he only shook his head while sobbing hard.

Aiba entered the cabin a few seconds later and his expression darkened as he saw Nino.

“Did he leave?” he asked shortly.

“What are you talking about?” Jun faced his friend. “Who’s leaving?”

Aiba didn’t answer, he glanced to the letters on Ohno’s desk and took the one which addressed to him. Jun did the same; he growled like an angry wolf when he finished.

“WHAT IS HE THINKING ABOUT?!” He screamed while hitting the table with his fist. “We have to turn around, we have to take him back from the Navy. I’ll kill them all!”

“Jun!” Aiba took his friend’s elbow. “Wait.”

“Let go of me, Aiba,” Jun’s voice was shaking. “I’m gonna crush them all if they lay a hand on Ohno-san.”

“Listen to me!” Aiba said, raising his voice. “Ohno-san is sick, I have known it for months, there’s no way for him to survive.”

Aiba’s voice cracked, he looked at Nino and Jun with an apologetic expression.

“What…?!” Jun grabbed Aiba’s collar. “What did you just say? He’s sick and you did nothing to cure him!” he landed a punch on Aiba’s face; the latter wobbled and fell to the floor, but he didn’t fight back, he didn’t even wipe the blood on the end of his lips.

“I did,” Aiba said with a sob. “But it only prevents the virus from spreading any further, he could only survive for several months.”

Jun groaned in frustration; tears fell down on his cheeks. He punched the wooden floor over and over, until his fists were bleeding, but he didn’t manage to stop.

“You, stupid captain! Selfish, moron,” he said in between his punches. It was the first time for Nino to see the man losing control of himself.

Nino could only stare at both of them, he didn’t want to believe it, Aiba must have made up a story, or Ohno must have made some joke. Perhaps he was hiding somewhere and would laugh at them.

“He chose to die as a pirate,” Aiba said with a trembling voice. 

Jun left the cabin and slammed the door behind him. Nino stayed still, he was still trying to digest Aiba’s explanation. None of them made sense to him, none of them could explain why Ohno chose to end his life this way.

Aiba came closer and pulled him into a hug.

“I’m sorry,” he whispered.

They cried for their captain, for their savior who gave his very best until the end.

***

“How long do I get?” Ohno asked Aiba after the man finished checking him.

They were on Akakuro Island, far before their voyage across Naraku Sea.

Aiba inhaled a deep breath and answered briefly, “Six to eight months.”

Ohno nodded and put his hand on Aiba’s shoulder, “Don’t make such face, Aiba-kun.”

“Do you plan to commit suicide at Naraku Sea?” Aiba asked.

Ohno put on his cloak and looked up to the bright sky. He had no intention of committing suicide; it wasn’t an honorable way to die. Besides, he wanted his death to be known; it was probably stupid to plan such things and the hardest part was to keep it secret from his crew.

“Aiba-kun, this is between you and me. I don’t want the other crew to find out, they will lose their spirit if they know the captain of this ship is going to die,” Ohno said with a light tone.

Aiba nodded without looking at him. Ohno knew that it was hard for the doctor to admit that even his skill wasn’t good enough to cure Ohno. The illness was rare and if it wasn’t because of Ohno’s Orion power, he would’ve probably died right after the virus affected him.

He almost told Jun about his intention to make him the captain, but he had no guts to do that. Jun wasn’t stupid, he would try to pry into what was the real reason of his sudden appointment. On top of that, none of his crew would agree to go on a voyage if their captain wasn’t healthy. With those considerations, Ohno finally decided not to tell anyone until the very end.

***

The news had spread all over the seas; it had become the main headlines for weeks in the newspapers. Nino didn’t read any of them. He didn’t join the other crew for meals and only gave directions to Jun once in a while. For the rest of the voyage, he locked himself inside Ohno’s cabin.

It was supposed to become Jun’s cabin as he was the captain now, but the man told Nino that he didn’t want to use that room because it would haunt him to no end. Nino, on the other hand, stayed there to remember what he had with Ohno. He was still grieving after weeks and nothing could take him away from the severe sadness.

Jun handled his emotions better than him, but maybe it was because he had to take the responsibility as captain. He had stopped blaming Aiba and accepted Ohno’s decision; he seemed to write a long letter to Sho, demanding the explanation of Ohno’s last days in the Navy Headquarters.

The grieving atmosphere was continuing for weeks, no usual laughter was heard, no joke was spoken. Everyone was quiet, all of them were in a deep sorrow, following the death of their beloved captain.

Nino had no tears left to shed; crying wouldn’t bring Ohno back. On the third week after the execution, he began drowning himself in drawing the map. If Ohno wanted them to continue their voyage, he had to create a navigation map that nobody had ever made before. He would help Jun to become the pirate king; that was the only thing he could do to pay his debt to Ohno.

That night he collected his newly drawn maps and brought them to Jun.

“Captain,” he called to him. Jun turned to him and gave him a weak smile. “Here,” he said, handing the bundle of parchments to Jun.

Jun took it and opened the parchment; and his eyes grew bigger.

“Let’s live his dream,” Nino said.

The captain nodded, he pulled Nino into a brief hug. “Can you hear the waves?” he asked.

Nino closed his eyes to listen to the waves; it accompanied them crossing the night sea. He didn’t know whether it was just his imagination when he heard a voice, brought to him by the blowing wind.

“I’m always here, together with the wave.”

***

The note of Fleet Admiral Sakurai Sho

Niji Island, Winter

It’s chilly and snowy, but the alcohol keeps everyone warm. It’s been a while since my last visit; the island is almost the same, casinos, bars, gambling tables, people with hoods covering half of their faces – nothing has changed. Nobody pays attention to me, not mentioning that I’m wearing the bright red of my newest uniform with too many stars on its chest. My uniform seems no more than a weird cosplay in the eyes of the people on this island.

The four main seas are finally safe from the pirates, thanks to the Navy’s never-ending hard work. Captain Ueda has become the vice Admiral for Shirogumi headquarters at the Kamakiri Sea, but he is still the old awkward Ueda that I’ve known.

Just like what Satoshi told me, I was appointed as the Fleet Admiral, replacing Higashiyama upon his retirement. It’s been ten years since that day, but it’s still fresh in my mind as if it happened yesterday. I talked with him over night, it was the first time for Satoshi to open up himself. I can still recall every detail he told me; he jokingly requested me to make his execution less painful.

I refuse to admit that he is gone; he still lives somewhere, perhaps he is one of those people with a hood over their head, playing trump cards. Since that day, I make special trips to Niji Island once every six months. This is the place where I met Nino back then, the encounter which led me to Satoshi. Now, it has become the place where I can meet Jun without interference.

Jun is still a pirate, but he has agreed to work for the government. His task is to control the other pirates to minimize the crimes. We meet here every six months, not much but it’s better than never. He writes a long letter in between together with his reports. Sometimes, he sends me a gift from the places he’s visited.

Today is the anniversary of Satoshi’s voyage (that’s how we call his death). I’m waiting for the 3104 crew here, at the bars I’ve booked for them. Jun has managed to recruit more crew, a few of them came from Thousand Star Island.

Nino has become the mentor for navigators; he has discovered a new model of compass which can predict the weather. It helps the newbie navigators a lot.

Aiba meanwhile has found many useful medicines for newly developed diseases and delivers them to the poor without charge.

Satoshi, your crew has become the best in their field, just like what you wanted. If you’re here, let them know that you’re very proud of them. By the way, I’m keeping your mocking mural on my room’s wall, I think those are your best legacy that you’ve left for me.

I’ll be missing you forever, my friend.

THE END

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> a.n. Thanks for all kudos and comments. I really love portraying Ohno as a pirate and I’m so happy that you’ll enjoy this story as much as I enjoy writing it. See you in another universe. Have a nice weekend.


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